FTA to conduct safety management inspections, issue special directive to IDOT over CTA safety concerns

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will be conducting a safety management inspection (SMI) and issued a special directive for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)—the agency overseeing safety of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) rail system. FTA says that IDOT has not properly leveraged its oversight authority and resources to protect Chicago passengers and transit workers.

In a statement, Duffy said that “it shouldn’t take federal intervention for Illinois to take oversight of CTA seriously,” 

The special directive issued to IDOT requires the agency to take 11 actions to improve its oversight of CTA, including implementing recommendations from an April 2025 audit of IDOT’s rail transit safety oversight function conducted by the FTA.

FTA notes that it will decide, based on the results of the inspection, whether further enforcement actions, such as the issuance of additional special directives or other enforcement actions, are needed.

Additional information on the safety management inspection:

To date, FTA says it has taken several safety actions, including: 

1. Issuing a special directive to IDOT in October 2023 to address staffing and other concerns.
2. Evaluating IDOT’s response to FTA’s October 2025 report on a State Safety Oversight audit.
3. Participating in the investigation of recent safety events at CTA.

FTA has noted perceived deficiencies in IDOT’s performance, including:  

• Limited onsite presence
• Weak accident investigation governance
• Ineffective corrective action plan management
• Minimal use of enforcement authority

FTA says that it believes a safety investigation is necessary to determine the root causes and a way forward. The safety investigation is designed to test how IDOT performs safety oversight functions, such as how IDOT: 

• Independently identifies, evaluates and prioritizes safety risk.
• Conducts and/or critically reviews safety event investigations, ensuring their sufficiency and thoroughness.
• Exercises active and informed oversight of CTA’s Roadway Worker Protection (RWP) program to ensure the safety of those working on or around CTA tracks.
• Reviews and in some cases, challenge CTA’s analyses and conclusions to ensure that safety risk is appropriately identified and mitigated.
• Verifies the implementation and effectiveness of corrective actions.
• Takes quick and appropriate action to step in when CTA’s safety performance is inadequate.

Additional information on the special directive:

The FTA says that IDOT has not made sufficient progress in addressing long-term issues, including FTA’s findings from a recent audit. These deficiencies, according to FTA, have allowed safety concerns to persist. FTA says it believes this new directive is necessary to address unsafe conditions and practices consistent with the prevention of substantial risk.

To accelerate reforms of IDOT’s oversight of CTA, the new special directive will: 

• Incorporate the eight findings from FTA’s safety audit of IDOT as immediately enforceable findings under this directive.
• Establish specific required actions and expedited completion timeframes for IDOT to correct these deficiencies.
• Issue three additional findings and corresponding actions where FTA has determined that further direction and enforcement are necessary to address ongoing safety risk at CTA.