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Advocates urge CTA to launch stalled Narcan pilot for rail platforms
Summary
Representatives of the Westside Heroin Opioid Task Force told the board the Narcan dispenser pilot for six rail platforms is ready but delayed; CTA staff said leaders are coordinating final steps with county partners and will follow up.
A group of public speakers asked the Chicago Transit Authority Board on May 14 to move immediately to deploy a pilot program that would place Narcan (naloxone) dispensers on rail platforms.
Sheila Henneke, representing the Westside Heroin Opioid Task Force, told the board the pilot advanced through CTA channels and was close to final interagency agreements with Cook County Health roughly 90 days before the May meeting. Henneke said Cook County’s Office of Behavioral Health had agreed to fund and manage six dispensers across four lines (blue, red, green and pink) and that Chicago Recovery Alliance would stock and maintain the machines under arrangements with county public-health partners. Henneke said CTA staff would not be expected to administer Narcan but would provide property access and station communication about the devices.
Henneke urged the board to approve the pilot without further delay and described personal experience: her son died from an opioid overdose at the Rosemont Blue Line station in November 2021, which she said illustrated the potential life-saving effect of on-platform naloxone availability. She asked CTA leadership to follow up with her and the task force so the pilot could be launched.
CTA response and staff follow-up: Acting President Nora (first name given in meeting as Nora) said she had recently spoken with Henneke, that CTA leadership and county partners had worked through many revisions and had a small number of final operational questions, and that her operations team would follow up. Nora said she planned a staff update to the board next month and would keep Henneke and the task force in contact; she named a chief operating officer on the call as a follow-up contact.
Why it matters: CTA staff and public commenters framed the pilot as a harm-reduction measure intended to empower riders to respond to overdoses on platforms and to reduce service disruptions and emergency responses. Speakers said the pilot could be launched without significant CTA funding because county and nonprofit partners would supply machines and maintenance.
Ending: The board record shows CTA staff agreed to continue coordinating final steps with Cook County Health and Chicago Recovery Alliance and to provide a status update at the next board meeting.
