CTA reports 69% rider satisfaction; focus groups flag signage, station conditions and security as top barriers for riders with disabilities
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Summary
CTA staff presented spring 2025 survey results (35,000 invites; 1,911 completes) and focus-group findings showing accessible signage, station maintenance and security are key barriers for riders with disabilities; staff said these issues can reduce ridership and described pilots and working groups to address them.
Chicago Transit Authority staff told members of the agency's advisory and ADA committees that their spring 2025 customer survey and disability-focused focus groups show overall satisfaction at 69%, but that safety, cleanliness and accessibility problems remain major drivers of dissatisfaction.
Jack Hogan, CTA market-research coordinator, said the system'wide survey ran from mid-May to June 20, 2025; "We sent survey invites to about 35,000 respondents and got a total of 1,911 completes," he said. Hogan added the survey was offered in English, Spanish and Polish and weighted to reflect system ridership.
Hogan summarized four themes that emerged from focus groups of riders with disabilities: clearer, readily available signage and audio announcements; station and stop maintenance (elevators, escalators, level boarding and lighting); crowding and other riders occupying priority spaces; and inconsistent operator support, including failure to deploy ramps or enforce priority seating. "I feel at home on the CTA, I can go anywhere," Hogan read as a participant quote, and he used other verbatim comments to illustrate how barriers reduce independence for some riders.
Survey findings highlighted the role of perceived safety and cleanliness in deterring riders. Hogan told the committee that satisfaction with certain train attributes remained high (for example, ease of boarding and travel speed), but that cleanliness and security ratings were lower and have outsized effects on some riders' decisions to stop riding. He said improvements in security and cleanliness were among the highest-priority areas to prevent further ridership loss.
Committee members pressed staff on language access and regional coordination. Emily Drexler, senior manager for customer insights, said Polish was added per CTA's LEP plan and that staff are exploring additional languages used across the service area. Staff said they share results with the RTA and regional partners and are using focus groups and CTA chats events to inform pilots.
Why it matters: CTA staff framed the findings as a road map for targeted pilots rather than immediate systemwide changes. The agency plans to use internal working groups and innovation pilots to test improvements such as simplified bus-stop signage, audio wayfinding devices and operator-focused campaigns to reinforce ramp deployment and priority seating enforcement.
