CTA board places 18F consulting IGA on omnibus after lengthy debate over scope, timeline and funding

Molly Poppe, chief planning and innovation officer, told the board the Chicago Transit Authority seeks an 18‑month intergovernmental agreement with 18F, the U.S. General Services Administration’s technology and consulting team, to design and help implement a unified customer feedback process and related technology. Poppe said 18F will engage customers and employees, review current tools, recommend a technology stack, help with procurement and support implementation. The engagement cap is $1,690,000.

Poppe and Cara Bader, vice president of strategy and innovation, said 18F is an independent public‑sector consulting unit that typically does milestone work for governments and that it would not be tied to a single vendor. Bader noted 18F has worked for the IRS, Department of Justice and the Denver Department of Transportation and was intended to bring experience modernizing fragmented legacy systems.

Several board members pressed staff on three concerns: (1) why 18F was chosen rather than private vendors, (2) whether the project duration (18 months) was too long for the desired outcomes, and (3) whether CTA had a termination or milestone‑based exit if the effort failed to deliver.

On competitive alternatives, staff said they had considered private firms but preferred 18F because it does not sell a single technology product and has public‑sector experience; staff also said 18F audits its pricing compared with private market rates and had recently reduced its price. On timeline and deliverables, staff acknowledged the engagement includes discovery, procurement and implementation phases and that some board members wanted faster tactical outcomes. On termination, staff said the scope is phased and milestone‑based, and CTA could end the engagement at certain project phases to limit costs.

Director Jakes asked where the $1.69 million would come from; Tom McComb said the amount is included under the contractual services line in the approved budget for next year (described as an “other expenses” bucket of about $193 million). Director Raquijo and others urged parallel short‑term actions, and staff pointed to the existing chatbot work as an example of an incremental improvement CTA can continue while the 18F engagement proceeds. Several directors requested ongoing reporting and said they wanted rider engagement and compensated participation for community members who advise the process.

At the finance‑audit‑and‑budget committee the item was discussed in detail and placed on the committee omnibus; committee roll call for that item was recorded as passing with five yes votes, one abstention and one no vote noted for the record. The board subsequently voted on the omnibus package during the regular meeting and approved it as part of the omnibus that passed on Jan. 15.

Why it matters: Staff framed the 18F engagement as a “down payment” to modernize CTA’s fragmented customer‑service processes and to create an auditable, trackable feedback system; several directors requested clearer short‑term deliverables and stronger milestones before full implementation.

Sources: Remarks by Molly Poppe and Cara Bader and budget clarification by Tom McComb at the Jan. 15, 2025 CTA board and earlier finance committee discussion.