Safe, affordable and convenient, the CTA is ready to take you where you need to be
As the City of Chicago continues to re-open, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today introduced “When You’re Ready, We’re Ready!” – a new, multi-faceted campaign designed to welcome riders back to public transit. The campaign will promote the affordability and convenience of the CTA, while also highlighting the multiple ways the agency is providing the safest, cleanest travel experience possible.
“The CTA has provided essential transit for millions of riders throughout the pandemic,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “Now, as employees start returning to their offices and people feel more comfortable shopping, going out to restaurants and gathering with others, we want to remind them that our system is a convenient and affordable way to travel throughout the city.”
The CTA has long been the backbone of transportation for the City of Chicago and is vital to supporting the region’s recovery. Throughout the pandemic, the CTA carried the overwhelming majority of the region’s transit riders, especially essential workers and those who relied on its buses and trains to get them to medical appointments, the grocery store and other necessary trips. Currently, the CTA is carrying more than 500,000 riders each weekday, a number that continues to grow as the City reopens.
"As our city begins to reopen, more and more of our residents are beginning to get back to their routines—and the CTA is ready to get them where they need to go," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "Public transit was essential before a pandemic ever struck our city and now, it plays an even more critical role in our ability to safely reopen Chicago. I am thrilled that the CTA is recommitting to its mission of providing a safe, convenient and affordable travel experience for our residents just in time for all of the exciting citywide events we have planned for the summer."
The “When You’re Ready, We’re Ready” campaign will build on the CTA’s already robust customer engagement and outreach initiatives with dynamic marketing and outreach efforts targeted toward current riders, lapsed riders and the business community. The campaign will include updated customer signage and in-system ads in rail stations and vehicles, direct customer communications, outreach tools for the business community, social media updates, new customer incentives and promotions, special events, and advertising and marketing efforts. Through these efforts, the CTA will provide key information on mask requirements, cleaning activities, service and technology investments, and other key initiatives to support riders returning to transit.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the CTA has further enhanced an already robust cleaning regimen of its stations and vehicles, with new technologies and procedures. Each vehicle is cleaned before going into service and throughout the day, in addition to routine deep cleanings. Numerous adjustments also have been made to bus and rail service, including providing as much service as possible to offer ample room for riders.
Complementing these efforts has been an extensive customer signage campaign on vehicles and in stations reminding riders to keep practicing COVID-19 precautions, such as social distancing and always properly wearing a mask while on CTA properties. To help re-enforce the federal mask mandate for public transportation, the CTA has free masks available on every bus and they are also available upon request at every rail station. In addition, the CTA has also distributed nearly 30,000 Travel Healthy Kits – each containing a reusable cloth mask, a 2 oz. bottle of hand sanitizer and a healthy travel tips guide – at various stations throughout the system.
Although the pandemic presented challenges for the CTA – as it did for businesses and organizations worldwide – the agency continued to move forward with investing in a more modern system through ongoing infrastructure improvements and new customer amenities. Over the last year, the CTA has launched brand-new electric buses, introduced its newest generation railcars, the 7000-series, into service along the Blue Line, and unveiled a brand-new Ventra app that supports the Ventra Card on iPhone and will soon support the Ventra Card on Google Pay.
The CTA will gradually introduce a variety of components of the “When You’re Ready, We’re Ready” campaign over the coming weeks.
For more information about measures CTA has taken to provide the cleanest and safest travel experience possible, please visit transitchicago.com/coronavirus.
# # #