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CTA celebrates Red Purple Modernization station openings, cites ridership spikes during Lollapalooza
Summary
Acting President Nora Lierz and staff highlighted the opening of four RPM stations and reported strong event-driven ridership increases (including a week over 3 million rides during Lollapalooza); board recognized project teams for delivering stations on time and on budget.
Acting President Nora Lierz used her report on Aug. 13 to highlight recent accomplishments tied to the Red Purple Modernization (RPM) project. She said four RPM stations opened to the public July 20, and staff reported double-digit year‑over‑year increases at some station segments in the weeks following the openings. Lierz noted the rail system recorded its biggest week since the pandemic during Lollapalooza (more than 3.1 million rides) and estimated the festival generated roughly 332,000 rail rides from Thursday through Sunday.
Board members and staff praised the RPM construction and community outreach teams. Bill Mooney, chief infrastructure officer, and staff recognized dozens of RPM team members for their roles in design, construction and community engagement. Board members asked how lessons learned from RPM could be scaled to make similar station modernizations more routine rather than exceptional.
The board also discussed the project’s workforce and the contribution of women leaders in RPM. Acting President Lierz and Directors recognized community and political partners who attended ribbon‑cutting events. No votes were taken on the RPM project at this meeting; staff said remaining work continues as the program moves toward follow‑on projects such as line extensions and further station work.
