Episode 181: Running the Chicago Transit Authority with Nora Leerhsen

Doug Gordon: Sarah, I feel like you’re always talking about how you remember to bring your Cleverhood everywhere you go.

Sarah Goodyear: I do. I’m really good at remembering that, and I’m proud of that.

Doug: I have less success.

Sarah: Really?

Doug: I feel like I am one of those people where if I bring my Cleverhood, it doesn’t rain, and if I don’t bring my Cleverhood, it does.

Sarah: Well, I’m very sorry to hear that, Doug. Is there some kind of a solution that we can come up with to help you remember your Cleverhood?

Doug: I think probably what I need to do is just buy more than one, and have one stashed in my bike. But I have lots of bikes, so that would be like N+1 + Cleverhood. I don’t know if that would be a good idea.

Sarah: Okay, so I’ve got an idea. You can just remember the discount code for this month for Cleverhood. And that code to get 15 percent off all Cleverhood products at Cleverhood.com/waroncars is RAINBRAIN.

Doug: Oh, I definitely have rain brain for sure, because something happens, the barometer drops and I don’t think I really think about what I need when I go outside. So this is good. I should use the discount to get more than one Cleverhood. The Rover rain cape being my favorite.

Sarah: Yeah. And just remember that code, RAINBRAIN. It’s good through the end of October, so get on it, Doug.

Doug: The rain in my brain falls mainly in something. I don’t know.

Sarah: [laughs] Okay. We’ll leave it there.

Nora Leerhsen: When you take a transit vehicle with strangers, there is an inherent trust you’re giving to one another. And that trust in each other is so essential to the health of our larger society and our democracy. And when we start to drive people away and send messages that that shared space is not a place to be, you’re gonna see our institutions and our societal structures start to dismantle. I believe in CTA, not just for Chicago, but really for our country.

Sarah: This is The War on Cars. I’m Sarah Goodyear. With me in the studio is my co-host, Doug Gordon.

Doug: Hello.

Sarah: We have got a real treat for you today. We are gonna be talking with Nora Leerhsen, who is acting president of the Chicago Transit Authority. We met Nora when we were in Chicago earlier this year doing a book event with Better Streets Chicago. It was a great night, and honestly, we could have talked with her for hours. So we are incredibly excited to have her here with us today. Nora Leerhsen, welcome to The War on Cars.

Nora Leerhsen: Thank you so much. I’m so excited to be here and to continue our conversation. That was such a fun night in Chicago when you were here.

Doug: One of the most fun parts of that night was after it was over, Sarah and I were running to catch the bus back to our hotel. We jump on the bus—the wrong bus, I should point out—and you were on the bus. So we rode the bus back. You told us where to get off. And it was really great, because I feel like sometimes people in your position, you know, they will take the bus or transit for photo ops or every now and then to get a feel for the system. But we have so many transit executives in this country and people who are on the boards of different transit agencies who don’t ride transit. And there you were. And I guess we’ll talk about it a little more, but that was such a special capper to the event.

Sarah: Yeah. And we should say that if you hear noise in the background of the acting president’s audio, that is a train going by. They’re going by at very regular intervals.

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, that’s our Green Line right behind me.

Doug: It is Chicago. So it’s the elevated train rolling right by her window. Yes.

Sarah: But before we start the conversation, some business.

Doug: You can support us on Patreon at Patreon.com/thewaroncarspod. And you can also buy our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, from your favorite independent bookseller or wherever you get your books.

Sarah: Speaking of the book, you can check out LifeAfterCars.com for all of our upcoming live events, including St. Pete, Tampa, Nashville, Richmond and our return to Hunter College here in New York on Friday, November 6, when our guest will be former New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. That one is selling fast, so go get your tickets. We’ll put a link in the show notes. Okay, I think that’s all we have to cover.

Doug: Well, speaking of one amazing transportation leader, we’re lucky to have another.

Sarah: Let’s get started just a little bit with your origin story. You took over at the CTA in early 2025 after being at the agency for more than a decade. You started as project coordinator. What are the benefits of being an administrator who has worked her way up within the agency?

Nora Leerhsen: There’s so many. And actually, I’ll even go one step further back. I actually started here as an intern, Sarah.

Sarah: Oh, wow!

Nora Leerhsen: As a legal intern when I was in law school. And I have lived and breathed CTA for nearly 12 years across many different roles, and that’s so valuable every single day here. So I went to law school after being a teacher for many years. So I’ve always been in public service. And I went to law school with the intention of influencing public policy across our cities and across Chicago in a way that makes our city more equal and more open and accessible to everyone. And so when I interned here as a legal intern, I just immediately became kind of addicted to the influence that transit has on our city and our world. One of the first things I worked on was our background check policy for hiring to adjust to new federal guidelines in how to consider people’s criminal backgrounds more equitably and fairly. And so I immediately saw just at every turn the influence that public transit has on cities and on people’s lives.

Nora Leerhsen: And then I worked, when I first started here, in the safety department. And I know safety gets discussed with regards to transit a lot in terms of crime and security, but transit safety operationally is really our primary focus every day. And really our biggest responsibility to our riders is that we’re running a system that’s operating safely. So in the safety department, I learned about all of our departments, you know, maintenance, operations, everything we do, and all of the rules and regulations we have and how we follow them. And that’s been an incredible asset to me as I run the agency now and I’m aware of all of our obligations and really how to execute on those responsibly and in a way that protects all of our riders.

Nora Leerhsen: So I moved from there to the president’s office. And I was on a detail, a little short detail that was only supposed to be six months. And that started almost 10 years ago. So I’ve never left and just really tried to soak everything in, make myself as useful as possible, and kept moving up in positions here. So I took on the leadership role here just about 20 months ago. And all that experience, especially through the pandemic, has been really crucial to navigating the current circumstances we’re in and the fiscal crises that we had previously. So it’s given me so much information to lead, and I value it very much.

Sarah: One of the things that really comes through in talking to you is how much you love the CTA and the system. And you love riding it, and you love thinking about it. How have you communicated to Chicagoans that you really care about the system that you are tasked with running? Because I know that they haven’t always felt that leadership cares the way that you do.

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah. First, I’m so glad that that’s coming through and that you can see that, because it’s real. I live and breathe the CTA. I have so much passion for not just the CTA itself, but for this industry and the role that we play more broadly in society and moving us forward in the right direction. To your question, how do I share it, when I took this role over, I really tried to immediately flip a switch in being out there and visible as much as possible, because I knew how much that mattered to people, that they knew that their leader cared about this system, understood it and rode it themselves. And so I’m on the system several times a day on buses and trains. I take my children on the system regularly, and that allows me to have both an understanding of how we need to improve, but also allows me to speak really full-throatedly about our strengths and about what a beautiful, majestic, thriving, robust system we are, and such a point of pride that we are for Chicago.

Nora Leerhsen: So my focus, you know, through that experience I had in dealing with operations for over a decade here, you absolutely have to be focused on delivering safe, reliable, frequent transit service. And you have to let people know that you’re deeply focused on that by increasing transparency. We have a public dashboard that shows all of our service delivery and where we’re meeting the needs, where we’re not. And making sure people know how much you care about that fundamental component of your service.

Nora Leerhsen: And then what that allows you to do when you’ve hopefully convinced people of that commitment is that you can celebrate the system for its more emotional human connection characteristics that are always there, that I don’t think always get spoken about. And I’ve really tried to use this time as leader to do that in a new way that really hasn’t ever been done before around CTA. So we have, for example, last year we launched a new arts program on CTA. And this is building on a longstanding public arts program we have of large arts installations across our system that are beautiful, and we’re so proud of them. And we also invited artists to put in applications to perform on CTA in different ways. And we got a huge outpouring of interest from the public on conducting arts on CTA. So we’ll be launching in the coming weeks a new program with dance performance, theater performance, things never before seen in our spaces.

Nora Leerhsen: And that’s also building on kind of bigger name work that we’ve done. We were really proud last year in 2025 to do a partnership with Chance the Rapper, who’s a Chicago icon. And he did announcements on our rail system saying how much he loves CTA. And I’m a big believer in how much language matters and storytelling about the system, and so I really try every chance I get to talk about those stories and what I know CTA means to people. And so I often talk about Chance’s announcement on the system that said he loved CTA. It’s not just that Chance is talking, it’s what he’s saying and how that makes everyone feel just a little more proud that day to be Chicagoans, to be on our system, and to be with one another. So I’m hopeful that commitment comes through because I really feel it.

Doug: I wonder if you could talk a little more about that emotional connection that people have to the CTA and transit in general. I think, you know, as a New Yorker, we have a real emotional connection to the subway system. It is what makes New York City possible. And as a frequent visitor to Chicago, I ride the L every chance I can to get around. And, you know, we think of the big icons of Chicago—the various skyscrapers, parks, the fountain, things like that. But there’s also the L itself and the Loop. I wonder if you could talk about those emotional connections we have to transit.

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, the Chicago elevated is what opens up every single show or movie about Chicago. It epitomizes who we are. And it’s not just a landmark identifier, it’s really what it shows. It shows, like, this strong, rumbling, vast, strong system. You know, City of Big Shoulders. We’re tough, we have grit. And so the CTA is a symbol of what makes us who we are. And then that connection brings up so many memories for people throughout their lives in the city. So when we talk about growing up and taking the system to school, and then becoming young people and taking the system to our first jobs, and that sense of opportunity and hopefulness, which is what I really like to tap into, frankly, to counter some of the negative narratives that can haunt not just CTA, but other big city transit systems, right? We get a bit haunted by stories of crime and problems that, you know, that’s not new or unique to Chicago or CTA. But when you can tap into the opposite feeling that’s really just as strong and that’s there, and you give people a lane to talk about how much they find joy and happiness in the CTA, that it’s like a door I’ve tried to open to get people talking about that because it’s there.

Nora Leerhsen: And children, I think, are a big part of that. Something I’ve done in the last few months here is launch a new program that has child-sized benches across the system at 10 different stations. It’s just a pilot now, but I’d love to see it grow. And it’s something I saw in Paris. I visited Paris last year, and they’ve made such great strides in terms of pedestrianizing their streets, adding more greenery, promoting transit, promoting cycling. And I saw specifically there they had these benches that were child-sized. And I have two young kids myself, and I just thought how adorable that was and inviting it is to children to make them feel as if this system is for them.

Nora Leerhsen: And I’ll be honest with you, it’s a bit strategic, because kids are our biggest fans, our kind of most emotive, excited fans. So if you give them a place to sit and have them do their thing, they will show how much they love this system and how much everyone should. I mean, I challenge anyone to not be in a great mood after seeing a kid ride over the Chicago River on the Green Line and look out the window. It’s an incredibly life-affirming, you know, just heartwarming experience. And they remind us why we’re all here. We all came to these cities, if we grew up here or we moved here as young people, because of the hopefulness, the opportunity, the bustling nature of big cities, the anonymity, the fun, the romance. And when you watch a kid look over out the window like that, you’re reminded that’s why you’re here too, and how special it is. So there’s just so much to tap into in our system, and I’ve really loved doing that.

Sarah: I feel like this is something that Zohran Mamdani would be really into, just hearing you talk about it.

Doug: Zohran, if you’re listening.

Sarah: If you’re listening. [laughs]

Doug: We need—we need—I know it’s the MTA and it’s not a city-run agency, but yes, child-sized benches would be …

Sarah: Let’s see, maybe it’s buses. We can work on that.

Doug: I mean, I will say, as I said, a frequent visitor to Chicago, I have taken my son especially on the L from my in-laws’ place, and the ride itself is part of the fun. It’s not just going to see the Bean or going to the Art Institute. It’s like, we’re gonna ride! Oh, you’re used to New York? Well, guess what? This whole thing is gonna be above ground and you’re gonna get to see everything. He loves it.

Nora Leerhsen: Yes, absolutely. And that’s a huge thing I focus on. Just Labor Day weekend, I took my two kids to the beach on the bus out to the lake. And because we offer bus service to the beach in a special way over the summer, and I said, “Let’s get on it.” And it’s absolutely the ride out there. You know, my two kids weren’t on screens. They get to sit there and look around, learn about the city, and the bus takes us right up to the shoreline of the beach. I mean, you just can’t beat it. And it’s several more hours of activity with them that you can have.

Nora Leerhsen: And one of the things I think people forget about transit, it’s the ride itself, it’s looking around. It’s the physical experience of it that’s different. You know, I work a lot. I wish I was home more a lot of the time. I have a four-year-old son, and I sat there on that bus. And I could hold him on my lap, and it clicked with me. I can’t do that in a car, right? So I get that whole ride there and back with him in my lap in a way that only a bus can offer. You know, we’re not even tethered in with seat belts, right? You can move around and talk. Once you start to notice what it offers and get open to that, you can see it just continues to flow.

Sarah: Yeah, your love for the system comes through so strongly. And I do know that at least some Chicagoans out there are really getting the message, because as part of prepping for this episode, I came upon a Reddit thread. I don’t know if you saw it from a few months back, and it was “What would you say to CTA President Nora Leerhsen?” Have you seen this thread?

Nora Leerhsen: I have. Yes. Yes. [laughs]

Sarah: Yeah. All right. Well, I mean, one of the things that really struck me about it is how positive it was. My initial reaction to seeing that was like, wow, okay, here we’re gonna really see—get down and dirty on this. But so many people were like—just had good things to say. One person wrote, “I would thank her for riding the elevated, but I wouldn’t ask her anything. No questions or stress, just thanks.” Which I thought was very funny.

Sarah: But obviously, some people did have complaints and things that bother them about the system. And perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of them had to do with either people engaging in antisocial behavior on the train, like smoking, or the presence of unhoused people in the system, which is something that we see in transit systems around the country, but also on the streets and roads around the country and alongside the rail tracks as well. So I just wanted to read one comment that I think sort of summed up a bunch of these in a really respectful way. And then we can talk about these challenges that you face like everybody else.

Sarah: This person said, “Based on the discourse in the Chicago subreddits and on conversations with people I know in real life, the number one and number two reasons people don’t ride are safety and cleanliness. The CTA should prioritize addressing those first. And it’s obviously not as simple as just saying it, but they could start with enforcing fare payment and enforcing no smoking, no littering, no peeing, no noise rules. I also agree with another commenter that stations need restrooms, et cetera.” So how do you respond to those types of comments, which I’m sure you hear frequently?

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah. I know, and I appreciate you bringing that up. You know, I spoke about adding on these other programs like arts and emotional celebration of CTA, and I really feel strongly you can only do that after you really show people how much you’re focused on the fundamental nuts and bolts aspects of delivering safe and reliable service. And safety has been a major focus in the past year and a half for me. And we’re really seeing great strides there. So I just spoke at a board meeting just earlier this week. Crime on CTA is down 30 percent compared to last year. Violent crime is down even more than that, closer to 40 percent when you compare it to last year. We track these numbers really closely, and I share them to just make the point of the commitment and the work that’s going on there, because it is front and center.

Nora Leerhsen: And transit is a unique environment in that we are a low-cost option for people. We run 24 hours a day, right? We never can close down, which means we see everything in the city. And what I like to say to my staff and to others is that’s a strength of ours. We are experts in managing city service. And, you know, we don’t just see it, we run service through it and within it. This takes a high level of expertise and sophistication and political skill to manage through all of those aspects. And what we’ve done, frankly, is we bring a dynamic set of resources to meet those dynamic needs.

Nora Leerhsen: So it’s been increasing law enforcement on CTA. That happened in 2025 and into early 2026 in a very close collaboration with the police department. I speak often about my close collaboration with the Chicago Police Department and how essential that is, because transit policing is a unique type of policing. You have moving trains, you have 146 stations, you have all this area to cover. It’s not just about numbers of police, it’s about doing it purposefully and strategically. And so that’s a fundamental layer to it.

Nora Leerhsen: But just this week, and I was out yesterday with a new set of resources, it’s never before seen on CTA. We’re adding something called Safe Ride Specialists. And these are programs with community violence intervention specialists directly on the trains working with people, as well as a series of groups working with crisis intervention specialists. So we’ve always had longstanding partnerships with our social service agencies for the unhoused population. That’s longstanding, but this is a new layer of resources on the system, and it’s very intentionally designed. They have new vests that all say ‘Safe Ride Specialist,’ so that people on CTA know we have resources on the system meeting the needs of our riders. We can’t turn away from it. We run transit, but we run transit within a giant urban center with a lot of complexities, and I feel people need to know that we’re bringing those resources there.

Nora Leerhsen: It’s a pilot program, and we’re gonna need to scale it up and talk about funding for that, and that’s gonna be a huge part of it. But in addition to, you know, letting people know how much I love the agency, I have to go around and tell people how much I know what’s out there and all the resources that are needed there and that we’re bringing them out. So it’s a lot of work to meet those dynamic needs. You know, my staff, I just met with them yesterday, and you recognize to them this is not actually traditionally something that a transit agency is doing, right? I have an innovation team working, and they’re staffing and supporting, you know, these crisis intervention specialists. That’s a unique set of skills, but it’s exciting, and I’m really hopeful that riders see in these resources the commitment and recognition to what’s needed on the system.

Doug: I want to channel what I would imagine some of our listeners are thinking right now—it’s certainly what I’m thinking—is that this is a lot to ask of a transit agency. You know, the point at which someone is sleeping on the train or having some sort of mental health episode on the train is the point at which so many other pieces of the social safety net, such that it exists in this country, have failed. I wonder, is that frustrating? There’s just so much focus on crime on transit and, you know, emotionally disturbed people on transit. Those are the things that lead the news. But there is so much more we should be asking of other parts of our society before that person is, you know, kicking their feet up on the train and smoking or making the experience uncomfortable for other people or just a risk to themselves as well.

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, Doug, it is a lot to ask of a transit agency. And I’m pretty intentional about making the point that we are working and putting these programs together, but to scale them up at the level that we would need, we need other entities to then step in. So what I’m trying to do is take off the table an argument that we are not working on it.

Doug: Mm-hmm.

Nora Leerhsen: Because I watched for so long that we get caught up in that loop, that we’re not paying attention, we don’t understand it. And I want people to know we see it, we see the issues that need to be addressed, we’re doing what we can. And, you know, using our expertise of how we know this system works, to get things moving. And then we’re gonna need everyone from all different industries to then step in, because it is true that these are not just transit issues.

Nora Leerhsen: You know, also being a former teacher, I think about this. You know, I come from public education 20 years ago, and I saw it happening again here, which is this focus on quote-unquote “accountability” of transit agencies. Which is absolutely essential, right? We’re in public service. We have to be accountable to our riders, to the taxpayers, to the people that fund us, and they need to know how hard we’re working on these things. But what can happen, as you saw in something like No Child Left Behind in public education, you know, 25 years ago, this focus on testing and scores and data and output of data, that in and of itself does not support the institution to make it better, right? You have to be tracking the data and the output, but you have to be supporting it with the resources it needs. And what I work on is, you know, showing people you absolutely should and can hold me accountable. And I’m also gonna put in the work to, you know, meet the needs of it. But let’s be honest about how dynamic and vast the need really is.

Doug: And it’s a complicated subject, because taking transit is orders of magnitude safer than driving. And we tend to not focus on the emotionally disturbed person behind the wheel of another car who experiences a road rage episode because you took their parking spot or delayed them from getting to work on time. But transit becomes this catch-all for society’s problems in more ways than just the person being antisocial or leading the news with the latest, you know, if it bleeds, it leads sort of headline.

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, and I’m so glad you raised that, because I’m always trying to voice—the statistics are staggering when you look at actually the safety of public transit to ride versus driving. Something like you’re 90 percent less likely to get into, you know, a collision type of accident on a transit vehicle than you are in a car. And I know people that have little kids—I mean, I feel it when I’m in a car with my kids versus on a bus or a train. It’s so much safer to be on transit, to your physical safety. And that can get lost in a lot of the discussion of crime on transit. And, you know, I worry a lot about that discussion and how it keeps people away from riding transit, and what that means to our larger society.

Nora Leerhsen: You know, I spoke a little bit when we talked when you were here in Chicago, about—and I think a lot about the relation of this public space and promoting it and making sure people feel safe and invited to it, and what it means to the state of the health of our democracy. I mean, I see a close connection there. When you take a transit vehicle with strangers, there is an inherent trust you’re giving to one another. And that trust in each other is so essential to the health of our larger society and our democracy. And when we start to drive people away and send messages that that shared space is not a place to be, you’re gonna see our institutions and our societal structures start to dismantle. I believe in CTA, not just for Chicago, but really for our country.

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Sarah: I know you also really believe in the people who work for and at CTA, and that you have made it a priority to connect with the people who work at the agency and to recognize them for what they do. We saw it when we were on the bus with you, because we got on the bus and yeah, you sat and talked with us, but then we were like, “Oh shoot, we’re on the wrong bus. What stop should we get off at that will be best for where we’re going?” And you said, “Oh, I’ll just go up and ask the driver.” And you did. And then you hung out up at the front of the bus for quite a while talking with the driver. And when you came back, you talked about how you had really made an effort to make that connection with staff at all levels. So maybe you could talk a little bit about the people who work for CTA and what they mean to the city and what they mean to you.

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, thank you for asking that and bringing it up. The CTA employees are the heart and soul of this agency, and I have so much respect for the work that they do. And it’s truly such an honor to be their leader and to have me talking to them, you know, mean something to them, and to validate the service that they do. A transit employee is such a sophisticated job that I think people might not think about, but you open your doors to everything that might happen. You know, the level of customer service that’s necessary in terms of what, you know, the hundreds of people that you see across a given day and the commitment to strangers that transit employees have is what I find most inspiring about them. And you will find they care so much about making sure people are getting to work on time and how—I mean, what a responsibility that is, across our whole agency, that people may lose their job if they’re not on time. And you will talk to bus operators about getting to know people, and knowing when they need to be somewhere and knowing that they might be running late and how much they care. Speaking with them and learning about the system is one of the most moving parts of this job, and being able to elevate their work and talk to people about it, it also comes from the pandemic period. And I know a lot of people—you know, we moved past COVID and we should move past it in lots of ways, but we will never be the same as an agency. And all transit agencies. We never shut down when so much of the world closed its doors, CTA never for one minute stopped running service. And the kind of courage that took, and bravery and professionalism to be out in what was a very intimidating and terrifying set of circumstances just, you know, gave us all such a bond and respect for one another and for the service we provide.

Nora Leerhsen: So the employees really are the best part of my day. And it’s amazing, even in an agency with 11,500 employees, I run into the same employees over and over again in different places. So just really getting to know them. And one of the favorite parts of my day, I transfer at the end of the day from a train to a bus, and wait sometimes for that bus. It’s sometimes 10, 15 minutes frequency by that time of night. And I talk with the same customer service assistant and the same janitor regularly. You become really good friends with someone if you talk to them every day for 10 minutes. And we just have really special conversations about our day and our lives. And they’re really special people, and I’m really proud to be their leader.

Doug: Can you think of examples where someone in the system—a bus operator, train operator, a janitor—you know, you said you have this Office of Innovation and sometimes, like, your initiatives, like the child-friendly benches, are a top-down initiative that you saw firsthand. Is there stuff that’s coming up from the bottom about how to improve service or the customer experience?

Nora Leerhsen: A hundred percent. Yeah, they have the best ideas, and they’re also really good advice because they’re realistic about it. So they understand the complexities of running service. And so the support, for example, at the end of the lines, of our 24-hour lines, is where you’ll hear employees really talk about support for people who may be unhoused or need services there and how to execute on that, right? And the support that they need when they’re at the end of the train. And they’re very appreciative of the new resources that we have on, and those employees were involved in the training that I attended yesterday to make sure they understand how it’s all going to work.

Nora Leerhsen: They also inspire many of these things. I talked about the benches, but we actually put a plaque on one of them to commemorate a customer service assistant who worked at a station. Her name was Janet Martin, and she was known as the “Mayor of Armitage,” which is our station on our Brown Line. She was so beloved, and when she retired, there was a whole community party about her. And you can immediately tell why she was so beloved, because she gave this speech and talked about watching nannies bring children they’re babysitting up to the platform to just sit and watch trains go by while they eat lunch. And so I named one of the benches in her honor, because she also gave me that idea when I was hearing her talk. So they come up with practical solutions and also will tell you some of the most inspiring things about the system.

Sarah: That brings me to a question I wanted to ask. You probably are familiar with the 2019 study that showed women are just 15 percent of the transportation workforce. So speaking about a transportation worker who is a woman who made such a huge impact, and in your own career, how do you think that lack of women in the transportation business has affected the way we build and manage our transportation systems? And what do you think would be different if there were more women in positions of leadership and on the ground?

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, it’s a great question, and I think about it a lot as the first woman to run this agency and to see women working throughout this agency and across the industry and observing their work. And I think that women bring a set of skills to understanding the human experience in a way that is dynamic and robust that can really inform how we design our systems. You know, as mothers, as caretakers and as a population that can sometimes feel more vulnerable in public spaces, we understand all of the small and big changes that are needed to support women in the system. So I do think a lot about, you know, being a mother and being a woman on the system myself, and how that gives me just a vast set of experiences to bring to the table when I’m talking about the customer experience here.

Nora Leerhsen: And this is an industry that has been traditionally male-dominated, and it still can feel that way in many rooms. And it’s important to put women in positions of high priority and power in this industry to make that impact. And it’s been thrilling to connect with women throughout this agency in this role. You know, when I first took it on, I called the first female bus operator and the first female rail operator here at CTA. And I have pictures of them right in my office, because I think about those steps they took, you know, the realities. And if you speak with Mary Wallace, the first bus operator at CTA, she’ll talk about, you know, people didn’t think women were physically strong enough to maneuver the giant wheel of the bus at that time. Of course she was, right? And there is that reality of kind of physical strength that this industry has carried with it, that this is kind of big, burly, heavy equipment that maybe women can’t handle, and how untrue that is. And so it’s, it’s quite thrilling to kind of start to break through that mold even more and put a female face on the agency and to invite that type of engagement from women that’s never been here before.

Doug: You were mentioning some of the challenges of the pandemic, the fact that the CTA never stopped operating throughout all that time, and the bravery of many of the bus operators and train operators who had to work through just some really scary times. But now we are, if not in a post-pandemic period, we are in a period where things are returning. Transit ridership is not what it was before, but in many systems it is getting back up there. But commuting patterns have changed. We’re seeing more weekend trips in a lot of systems than there used to be. How’s the CTA adjusting to those changing patterns?

Nora Leerhsen: It’s fascinating how transit is actually a great barometer for the evolving urban environment post-pandemic still. You know, when you track how people are moving and how they’re acting, you can look to a transit agency first to kind of get that information. And so we have been adjusting for a long time to that reality. Certainly our ridership plummeted during the pandemic like everyone’s did. We’re really hitting some exciting records I just want to tout as well because of all the work that’s gone into that. So you mentioned weekend ridership. We actually have more weekend ridership than we did before the pandemic, which was an exciting milestone to reach. So we have more than we used to. Our bus ridership is 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels. So that’s exciting. And just the last week of August in the summer, we had three days that hit 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels systemwide, so ridership is strong and growing all the time.

Nora Leerhsen: So it’s also heading in the right direction, and that is because we have adjusted and looked at different travel patterns, and will continue to do so. So that weekend service, that special event service, you know, you see the traditional nine to five on rail is still not back to what it was and may never be, but our bus service is what’s been really fascinating and exciting to watch, that return to bus in such a strong way. And I think that speaks to people taking different kinds of trips that are not the same as the traditional pre-2020 world of nine to five on rail. And so we’ve added—in 2025, we added a bus frequent network, which is dedicated routes that we commit to 10-minute or better service on all day long. And we have seen over and over again how the ridership is following that frequency improvement.

Nora Leerhsen: So really focusing a lot on bus. We still stay very focused on rail, but the bus system offers just such immense opportunity that you can put into place, you know, literally almost overnight, right? I say that, that people need to admit, you know, you can tell how much a transit agency cares or how many resources they have by looking at their bus service, because that’s movable pretty easily and enhanceable. And so we’ve been really focused on that.

Nora Leerhsen: And also, what I remain focused on is making sure we’re improving our bus-street infrastructure. Chicago is behind on this. We have just under 15 miles of bus lanes right now, you know, whereas other cities have much more. New York has over 140, Los Angeles has 100, there’s 40 in San Francisco, and we’ve got this number that’s lagging. And I’m really trying to take this moment of making this point about investment in CTA and improving our bus flow, because we also happen to be the most congested big city in the country, which means that those buses are in traffic a lot of the time. So we’re ready, we’re investing in it, but now we need to make sure we’re putting in the work of improving the flow of those buses.

Doug: So this is a very weird time for transit. The federal government is actively hostile to anything that isn’t car-shaped. And Chicago and the CTA have really recent experience with going toe to toe with the Trump administration. You clawed back all of this funding for the Red Line extension and Purple Line modernization projects. I wonder if you could talk about what lessons you learned from that. How do we go forward in this environment where transit expansions are rare in the best of circumstances and kind of impossible in current circumstances? You just broke ground this spring on the Red Line extension, so that is moving forward.

Nora Leerhsen: It is, yeah. The Red Line extension is full speed ahead and proceeded without interruption, and we are very happy about that. So the funding was paused for a period, but we took some legal action and the funding is flowing, and we hope to have full resolution on that and are optimistic that we will. And construction has proceeded as scheduled in the meantime. And it’s a unique time across a lot of different fronts, and it requires a unique set of skills that maybe transit agencies didn’t have to face before. But we were ready for it. And that one was a particular legal strategy. I’m a lawyer as well, and so that came in handy in terms of strategizing the political and legal dynamics there. And we were happy to keep that moving forward.

Nora Leerhsen: In terms of, Doug, what you’ve mentioned about rail expansions and the importance of keeping them moving during this time, a lot of what I’m doing—and I see everything connected in terms of speaking about the robust health and effect of a strong transit system and how worthy it is of investment as being all connected to protecting the narrative around large-scale investments like that. And that project in particular is ready for anything. That project is 50 years in the making. It has withstood so many doubts and so many fights. So that groundbreaking was absolutely historic, and we will continue to keep that moving forward no matter what.

Sarah: So what are your goals for the CTA in the future? I mean, this is a tough environment to be working in, but I know that you want to improve the system for Chicagoans and make it serve them better. What are your hopes and dreams, I guess, for the system?

Nora Leerhsen: We’re in a really interesting historic time for the entire region here in transit in Illinois. So as you may know, the Northern Illinois Transit Authority is our new regional agency that oversees CTA along with our commuter rail of Metra and our Pace suburban bus altogether. So it’s an incredibly optimistic and hopeful time for transit in the region. There are big goals of coordinating all three of our systems better together to make the transit experience in the city and into the counties outside of the city smoother and more accessible and more frequent and reliable. So my goal is certainly to move that agency forward and have us see ourselves as a robust and thriving regional network for which CTA is really the epicenter and the core system in many respects.

Nora Leerhsen: And really moving forward with improving the support for transit on our streets. You know, I mentioned, but we have a ton of opportunity in terms of improving the flow of buses in Chicago. And some of that has to do with getting people to think about taking transit and more people to get out of their car. You know, for a large city like Chicago, we have a lot of car ownership. So, you know, 73 percent of households in Chicago own a car. That’s a lot for a city of our size and for one that has such a robust transit network that we have. So we need to think about getting people out of their cars and all of the multifaceted reasons that people may still be driving. And that’s where we have to attack those issues on all fronts. And a lot of it has to do with making service that is frequent, reliable, safe, clean, all those fundamental aspects, and telling a story about CTA that is new and inviting. And that’s really been a lot of my focus during this time.

Doug: Hopefully we are in the endgame for this current administration, and I know you have to deal with people of both parties at the city and state level, but we will hopefully find ourselves in a situation come the midterms, come 2029, where things turn over and we have a new administration. What would be on your wish list if we had, let’s say, the most friendly administration we possibly could have for transit? Would it be things like congestion pricing for the city, new funding calculations for what transit receives from federal infrastructure bills, things like that? What would be sort of your pie-in-the-sky dream ideas?

Nora Leerhsen: Yeah, we need to see more capital investment in transit that talks about the aging infrastructure that make up our transit system. So CTA is a legacy system, you know, like our other sister agencies in Boston and New York. These are very old transit systems. So we need to see increased capital funding to support the revamping of our nearly 100-year-old tracks. You know, when I talk about accountability, that’s a lot of what I’m trying to work on, that people move beyond just thinking about leadership and management, that they feel secure in that part and that that’s being handled. Now when you see service being impacted, let’s look at why.

Nora Leerhsen: And, you know, we have a Blue Line branch here in Chicago that gets a lot of attention out to the Forest Park suburb, and it’s very slow. And that is because our tracks are so old, we cannot go above a certain speed limit. And you know the cascading effects of that, which means that people are not riding that Blue Line and they’re in their cars on a very congested highway right next to it. So continued grand, robust capital investment that is honest about the reasons for service that may not be up to par with what people want. So changing the narrative and making sure we’re investing in our transit systems is that way, you know, front and center for me. Bus street infrastructure and capital investment in our aging tracks and our aging vehicles.

Sarah: So I know that a parent isn’t supposed to have a favorite child, but I do have to ask, do you have a train line or a bus line that is just so dear to your heart?

Nora Leerhsen: Well, you did steal my line, Sarah, that I do say they’re like my children, so I don’t pick one.

Sarah: [laughs]

Nora Leerhsen: That’s exactly what I say. So I can’t pick just one, but there are experiences that each one brings that really can be close to your heart. I mean, the views on the Green Line when you’re headed out west, which is my regular line, when the sun is setting, just cannot be beat. And there are incredible views that you can get when riding our system. The views over the Chicago River on the elevated literally take your breath away when you see them. And, you know, I think the Red Line is our busiest line, and so traveling the Red Line from the South Side of Chicago to the North Side is telling a whole story of our city’s history. And it has, in its 24-hour way, a buzz and an energy that really can’t be beat. So I have a special place in my heart for the way the Red Line provides that experience for our customers.

Nora Leerhsen: You know, our bus system overall, I think buses and the conversation that you can have on a bus that people don’t necessarily take into account. And the one thing I’ll say too about being a mother is it can be tiring to explain to your kids how to act and what you’re supposed to be like in the world. And the other thing you can do is ride a bus, and watch the way people stand up for elderly people, for pregnant women, and just have them take that in, how you conduct yourselves in a society that is respectful. And, you know, transit can get a bad rap for having a lot of problems on it, but I just did it with my eight-year-old daughter, and I just felt like, wow, I can just sit back and let her see the world, how people should be respecting each other and how people come from all different kinds of circumstances, but can be together in a successful way. So that’s one of my favorite things about transit, too.

Sarah: I think that’s a great place to end. I’d also like people to know that if they want to hear more about you, more from you and more about the CTA, you have a podcast of your own, right?

Nora Leerhsen: We do, yes. It’s called Moving Experiences: Stories of the CTA. We feature a lot of CTA employees, and showcase their stories and what they do here at CTA, as well as a lot of Chicago artistic and cultural icons as well.

Sarah: I’m definitely gonna be subscribing.

Doug: Absolutely.

Sarah: Thank you so much for coming on The War on Cars. It’s just been a real privilege to have you with us.

Nora Leerhsen: Thank you.

Doug: That’s it for this episode. Thanks so much to CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen for joining The War on Cars.

Sarah: Remember, you can support us and get exclusive bonus content, presale access to live show tickets, free stickers and more by signing up on Patreon at Patreon.com/thewaroncarspod.

Doug: A big thanks to everyone who supports The War on Cars, including our top contributors, Charley Gee of Human Powered Law in Portland, Oregon, Mark Hedlund, Virginia Baker, Brandon DeCoster, Dave Shellnutt, who’s the founder of The Biking Lawyer LLP in Toronto, Canada and Amy Morgenstern.

Sarah: Pick up a copy of our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, wherever you get your books. You can find out more about the book and keep track of our upcoming live shows at LifeAfterCars.com.

Doug: Thanks also to our friends at Cleverhood. Listeners of The War on Cars can save 15 percent on the best rain gear for cycling and walking now through the end of October with code RAINBRAIN. Go to Cleverhood.com/waroncars.

Sarah: Thanks also to Bunch Bikes. If you’re looking to replace car trips and explore a new and fun way to get around and get a free set of party lights for your bike, go to Bunchbike.com/thewaroncars.

Doug: The War on Cars is produced with the generous support of the Helen and William Mazer Foundation. This episode was recorded at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio by Nicole Mercedes. It was edited by Samantha Gattsek.

Sarah: Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Transcripts are by Russell Gragg. Our logo is by Dani Finkel. I’m Sarah Goodyear.

Doug: I’m Doug Gordon. And this is The War on Cars.

[ARCHIVE CLIP, Chance the Rapper: What up, Chicago? This is Chance the Rapper. Growing up on the South Side, I took the Red Line from 79th almost every day. I won’t ever stop loving the CTA, and I encourage you to keep supporting public transit and its workers. Be safe and just enjoy the ride. Just enjoy the ride. Trust, you gonna be all right. We gonna be all right.]