Chicago Politics

CTA Greenline Austin Ribbon Cutting 8.7.26

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Mayor Brandon Johnson attends the CTA Greenline Austin Ribbon Cutting.

Transcript

4:09 Good afternoon. Welcome, and thank you for joining us today as we celebrate another important milestone in the CTA All-Station Accessibility Program, and more importantly, what this milestone means for the people who use and rely on our system each and every day. First, I want to acknowledge Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson, my fellow CTA board members,

4:41 Acting President Nora Learson, and all other CTA officials, our peer transit agencies, City Council, Illinois Congressional Delegation, and the Illinois General Assembly and Cook County. as As board chair, I've participated in my share of groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies. But it's particularly meaningful to be a part of both for the same project.

5:14 You get to see the vision that was celebrated at the groundbreaking becoming a reality. A little over a year ago, many of us gathered here to kick off the accessibility improvements here at the Austin Green Line Station. Today, we're celebrating more than just the completion of that work. We are celebrating progress towards greater access and opportunity across our system.

5:47 And the guiding principle that moves that work forward is this. When we make our transit system more accessible, we make it better for everyone. Today's celebration is particularly timely as we recently marked the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark law that established accessibility and equal opportunity for people with disabilities as civil rights.

6:20 Thirty-six years after its passage, the work continues. The ADA sets the standards and expectations for accessibility, but projects like Austin and others in the ASAP program turn those standards into something people experience in their everyday lives. Access to transportation is access to opportunity. Let me repeat that. Access to transportation is access to opportunity, whether it's about getting to work, attending school, accessing health care, visiting family, participating in communities, or simply enjoying all our city has to offer.

7:12 our ability to participate depends largely on whether transportation is accessible to all of us. This is why accessibility is not simply a program or a compliance requirement. It's an integral part to our goal of providing quality transit service for all of our riders. Accessibility ensures that all riders experience a safe and reliable system that allows them to fully participate in the life of our great city.

7:45 It helps a person with a disability, but it also helps a parent with a stroller, a senior with mobility challenges, a traveler with luggage, or anyone who may face a temporary barrier getting where they need to go. Accessibility is how we turn the promise of equal opportunity into everyday experience. Today is a milestone, but is also a commitment to the continued progress that we are making towards this goal.

8:22 I want to thank everyone who contributed to this project. From our state and federal partners who helped make the funding possible. To our staff and project teams, the Accessibility Advisory Committee, and the advocates and community members whose input helped shape this work, congratulations to everyone on reaching this important milestone.

8:56 I look forward to continuing this work across our system and our region so that accessibility is the standard for public transportation in our region. thank you and at this time i would like to introduce and welcome the governor of the great state of illinois to the podium jb pritzker thank you mr chairman thank you and thanks for all of you for being here today good afternoon uh it really is a wonderful day it's not just beautiful

9:33 outside but um if you've been inside it's beautiful inside here too uh and i really feel like we're here to reestablish our commitment to safe, reliable, and accessible public transportation for Illinois. Now, I want to thank a few particular people who helped to make this a reality. Leadership and staff, of course, at the Chicago Transit Authority. Our senators in Washington, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, for their steadfast advocacy on behalf of, well, this very neighborhood.

10:10 My friends in the General Assembly, Representatives Evadina Delgado, LaShawn Ford, and Camille Lilly. Our aldermen who have joined us today, thank you very much. And the Transportation Secretary for the State of Illinois, Gia Biagi, thank you for being here. And, of course, the mayor of the greatest city in the entire world, Brandon Johnson. For more than a century, the Green Line has connected Chicagoans on the west side to jobs, to schools, to businesses, and to each other.

10:47 It has helped shape our neighborhoods and strengthen our communities, but for far, far too long. We had let too many of our transit stations, including this one, fall behind. The Austin Green Line station opened more than 125 years ago. Generations of riders have passed through these platforms, but the investment needed to maintain it along with a growing city haven't really kept pace. Our communities and our economy have paid the price.

11:20 Illinoisans with disabilities have paid the price. That's not right. Public transportation should connect people to opportunity, not create more barriers to it. So today, we're making it right. Thanks to a combined effort between the city, the state, and the federal governments, the Austin Green Line Station now features a new elevator, an escalator, an accessible ramp,

11:51 reconstructed stairs, a modern station with improvements that ensure riders can safely and confidently take the train. That is a victory for accessibility, for equity for this community and for every single rider of the CTA. The public transportation is really too important to our economy and too important to the daily lives of millions of Illinoisans to settle for anything

12:21 less. That is why investing in transit has been among my highest priorities. Through Rebuild Illinois, the most robust infrastructure program in our state's history, we are providing the CTA with more than $2 billion in capital funding, including the state's investment that helped make this renovation possible. Fiscal challenges left behind by the pandemic threatened devastating service cuts and fare increases to CTA that would have hurt millions of riders and weakened our

12:55 economy. So in Springfield, we jumped into action. Last year, we came together and passed the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act. It is a once-in-a-generation investment and reform package that not only stabilizes public transit, but positions us for the future. The NETA Act provides $1.5 billion annually to support transit operations across Illinois. And it increases public safety.

13:26 It improves our coordination so that our transit system works as one network, expands affordable fare programs, and strengthens our commitment to accessibility by creating a unified regional ADA advisory committee and Dedicated Office of Disability Policy and Planning. Look, around the country, too many cities and states have responded to their challenges of their transit systems by cutting service, by raising fares, and asking riders to accept less.

14:00 Illinois chose to invest, modernize, and build. It's the right thing to do for our people and for our economy. Our work truly is far from finished, though. Today represents significant progress, though, toward our goals, and it demonstrates what is possible when we come together and put the people of Illinois first. And we will continue to cooperate to deliver on the promise of the NIDA Act, not just to preserve the status quo, but to build a truly integrated regional system.

14:35 So today's about a future. Today's about a future that has really been made possible by our federal elected officials and their advocacy in Washington for the residents of Austin. It's also about the city and its commitment to this neighborhood. It's also, frankly, about my colleagues in the General Assembly and my commitment that have made the state's investment in. this possible. What this demonstrates is what's possible when federal and state and local

15:06 government come together with our transit leaders, with our community organizations, and with advocates around this shared goal of building a great transit system for a great city. Rail line by rail line, station by station, Illinois is building the kind of safe, reliable, and accessible transit system our people deserve. So I want to thank all of you, And with that, it is my really great pleasure to pass the podium over to the great Westside Congressman, Danny Davis.

15:44 Well, thank you. Thank all of you very much. Those of you who don't live on the Westside, let me welcome you to my home. You're less than a block from my house where I live in the station that I use. So I'm delighted to be here with the greatest governor anywhere in the United States of America, Governor J.B. Pritzker, with my neighbor and friend and colleague, the great mayor of the city of Chicago, Mayor Johnson, all of the elected officials who have come.

16:30 I want to commend Chairman Lester Barclay for his outstanding leadership of the Transit Authority. Chairman Barclay, I also want to pay tribute to the Chief Executive Officer and all of the staff of our transportation network here in Chicago and around the county. Let's give them a great round of applause.

17:05 And let me just remind us that we were able to snare $19 billion from the last big transportation bill that the United States government generated. Of course, that was during the Biden administration. That was during the Biden administration.

17:35 And so Illinois has benefited. This project, the end of it, is something called an earmark. And, of course, yours truly, Danny Kenyatta Davis, initiated the earmark. and introduced the Irmah Glishad.

18:08 So that just means that you've got to keep putting stuff in in order to get it out. To all of my neighbors who live across the street, the American with Disabilities Act, those who know my record, know that I'm one of the most avid supporters of individuals with disabilities in the United States of America.

18:38 There is nobody that I know who supports it more. And so we're just delighted that all of us are here to celebrate, but we've got to know that our work is always unfinished. We've done a lot, but I can tell you there's so much more to do. And I could never be at a public gathering without mentioning how important it is to keep going forward and never going backwards.

19:14 And it is for that reason that I am proud and pleased to present to you the next speaker, none other than our neighbor, our friend, our outstanding mayor, the Honorable Mayor Johnson. Come on, Westside, give it up for Congressman Danny K. Davis.

19:47 Thank you so much for your leadership, and I'm glad whoever put this program together kept enough distance between the podium and the seats, because if he swung that staff one more time, I was going to have to have my detail come. And if you move that staff enough, Reverend Dr. Congressman Davis, ask for a little more shade from the heavens above. But I'm so, what's up, West Side? Yes. It is such a great day to be with you all.

20:19 Thank you again for all of the elected officials, the city and community leaders who have come together to celebrate this great project. Thank you to Representative LaShawn K. Ford, the next congressman of the 7th Congressional District, LaShawn K. Ford. So you all know I dropped my son off at Eastern Illinois a week ago. So, you know, we're still struggling a little bit as we, you know, adjust to the house being a little emptier. And when we went to go vote in the primary and my son, who had a chance to vote for the first time,

20:54 I told him, I said, you're the first person in this family who's not voting for Danny K. Davis. But he cast his vote for LaShawn K. Ford. But thank you to our Senators, Duckworth and Durbin. And again, the governor of the great state of Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker. I gave him permission to keep his shades on, y'all. Didn't he look all right? He looked all right. Yes. So I am officially, with this executive order, declaring J.B. Pritzker a resident of the west side of the city of Chicago.

21:31 That means our property value just went up a little bit. But thank you to, again, our elected leaders. Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps is here. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Lori Lipson, our Commissioner for the Mayor's Office with Disabilities. Thank you to Commissioner Arfa for being here as well. To Chair Barclay and all the CTA board members and the community partners, thank you to Austin coming together and Build Chicago.

22:03 You all are showing up for the people of this great city. I'm proud that we are launching this newly constructed, fully accessible CTA Austin Green Line station with you all today. Accessibility is a fundamental right, and it is our responsibility to ensure that every resident and visitor can move freely through our city. Residents rely on our transit system every single day to go to school, work, to doctor's appointments, grocery stores, and to see their loved ones. We cannot build the safest, most affordable big city in America unless every resident has access, no matter what zip code they live in, to fully participate in what this city has to offer.

22:43 And unfortunately for generations, Austin residents have dealt with barriers that have made this station inaccessible for far too many people. And we've borne the brunt of disinvestment, whether it's school closings or the lack of access to health care and affordable housing. The original street-level station that opened in 1899, it had not been upgraded since 1962. And this new $25 million station will transform the daily life for residents of Austin and those of us who live on the west side with the new and a safer stairs, ADA accessible ramp and an elevator.

23:21 This ribbon-cutting is a powerful symbol of a shared commitment to investing in the West Side and to all of the community areas of Chicago that have been historically denied investments and neglected for far too long. And today, we tell the people of Austin that their neighbor actually matters, and that their neighborhood actually matters, their future matters, and that my administration is investing in people and the neighborhood. And I'm very proud that over the last three and a half years, we've invested over $2 billion just on the West Side of Chicago And let me just tell you, we're not done. This is the sixth and the latest station to reopen under CTA's All Stations Accessibility Program. With the opening of Austin and, of course, the stations across the city, we are now experiencing fully accessible access to the people who have longed for this for generations.

24:17 Upgrades in more than 14 stations, fully funding these projects to ensure not just implementation, but that we complete the work. This is an extraordinary investment in Chicago's working families, students, seniors, residents with disabilities and neighbors moving through our city. I want to again thank the federal delegation and city leaders and community partners who have made today possible. But I also want to thank my neighbors in Austin. I appreciate y'all being patient with a brother. You know, you know, people in Austin want you to fix stuff. They want you to hurry up and do it.

24:47 And then because they know where I live and they got my number, I've been blowing my number up. But we got it done, Chicago. So there's more construction, though, to come throughout our neighborhood. with more accessibility, upgrades, and investments that's made possible for the people of Chicago. So I look forward to this continued partnership. And with that, you all, please welcome to the podium the acting president of CTA, Nora Learson.

25:22 Thank you, Mayor Johnson, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for being here as we celebrate the unveiling of the new, fully accessible, and modernized Austin Green Line Station. What a gorgeous day to celebrate public transit and accessibility and to come together to recognize all of the years of work that brought us to this moment. I'd like to thank Senators Duckworth and Durbin, who unfortunately could not be here today, as well as Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson, and the many state and local elected officials, community leaders, project partners, and advocates who helped make this day possible.

26:05 Many of us gathered here last spring on a cold spring day that felt very different than today to break ground on this project and at the time we talked about what this station would become and what it would mean for riders and the community. Today we proudly open the doors to that new experience. This station represents far more than concrete steel and glass. It's a reminder of another important milestone in our All Stations Accessibility Program, our long-term commitment

26:40 to making every rail station accessible. It represents greater opportunity, greater independence, and stronger commitment to ensuring that everyone has access to public transit safely and with dignity. This new station includes a new modern station house right behind us, an elevator connecting riders directly to the rail platform an ada accessible ramp new stairs a platform extension and other improvements that make traveling through the station easier and more can be convenient for

27:15 everyone and as many have said accessibility benefits us all it benefits riders with wheelchairs who need to get to work and live their lives it benefits elder adults as they travel to a doctor's appointment. It benefits parents with strollers, travelers carrying luggage, and anyone whose mobility changes throughout their life. That's why this project matters. This investment benefits also riders across the entire Chicago region. The Austin station is served by three pace bus routes

27:51 that connect to several metro stations and popular destinations, including Midway Airport. And as our era of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority begins, CTA continues to be committed to working with our transit partners to provide more frequent and stronger regional coordination, and today is just the latest in that effort. We are incredibly excited about NIDA's focus on accessibility and how that will transform the lives of so many. With today's unveiling, Austin becomes the 110th accessible rail station in CTA's network.

28:31 This means that 75% of our legacy system is now fully accessible to riders with mobility challenges. This has been an incredibly active year for CTA on the accessibility front. From our four modernized red, purple, and modernization stations last spring, to the newly accessible Racine Blue Line station last fall, to the groundbreaking on the Red Line extension and the four ADA accessible stations that it will bring to the far south side, and then today, here at Austin, we are full speed ahead and dedicated to moving forward accessibility at CTA.

29:10 CTA is strong today because of the support of elected officials, advocates and community members, many of whom we are so fortunate joined us today. At CTA, you should know we are constantly breaking ridership records. Our weekend ridership is above the levels we saw before the pandemic. And on this branch today, my home branch I ride every day, the Lake Street Green Line branch, we're at 82% of pre-COVID levels in ridership and growing. Our entire bus system is at 90% of pre-pandemic levels.

29:45 CTA is thriving and strong, and this is just the latest accomplishment in that effort. The updates to this station will undoubtedly bring even more riders to CTA. We see it over and over again. And I always say, if you build. they will come. Our red-purple modernization stations on the north side have seen a 25% ridership increase year over year. Our Damon Greenline station has seen a 15% ridership increase just in presenting a newly modernized station to our riders. In closing, I want to

30:19 make sure I recognize all of the CTA employees who planned, designed, built, and supported this project from start to finish. While in many ways today we are calling this a reopening, I want to be very clear. CTA worked very hard to keep this station open for the last 18 months as we did construction to support the community and make sure that we put our riders first. So I want to thank the team across all those departments for their expertise and sophistication

30:49 and dedication to make that happen. At a historic crossroads at CTA and for public transit in the region and projects like this illustrate why this work matters so much. With the improvements to this station, people can envision a level of access to their lives that just didn't exist before and it's truly life-changing. I'd like now to call up Bradley Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of

31:21 Build Chicago to provide a few words. Bradley. All right everybody look I want you to take a look at this. Let's tell you this won't be long. I know it's hot, but I also want to say thank you. Thank you for being here. My name is Bradley Johnson, CEO at Build Chicago. We're just a few miles south of here, based in Austin, but I'm also a child of the Austin community. I've ridden this

31:55 train. I've gotten off at this stop. I've been all over the place over here, and I want to say thank you to our leaders I don't just say elected officials I say our elected leaders because each of them I know and I know that they're just just a hand away I can reach them talk to them ask for them and they support the work that we do and work with our young people communities and families so let's give a hand clap for our leadership and you know someone might say

32:31 well, what is Bill doing up here? Well, I want to say that Bill's mission is about creating pathways for our young people. We create pathways to opportunity, safety, and a brighter future. But opportunity does not exist in a vacuum. It requires investment. And I want y'all to say this with me. We deserve this. Because we do. You didn't have to say that part.

33:04 So, reopening this Austin Green Line station is fully accessible. We're seeing what real investment in our community looks like. What it looks like is accessibility and dignity. Dignity. I have to say that word over and over again, dignity. As the people of this community who have been overlooked for many years, there was a lot of investment not coming over here. So thank you, Mayor, for stating the work. Thank you, our commissioners and our congresspeople and our alder people and our state representatives.

33:38 They have made sure that this community is cared for and that we're seen, and I appreciate that. And so for too long, a lack of accessibility has served as a literal and figurative barrier for our residents. Transportation is a lifeline, as you heard before. It is how our youth get to our campus, how our families reach their jobs, and how our community connects to the rest of this great city. By making this station fully accessible with new elevators, escalators, and modern amenities, what we're actually doing is opening doors.

34:15 We're sending a clear message to every resident in Austin, especially our young people, and those with disabilities, that you matter. that your dignity matters, and that you deserve world-class infrastructure right here in this neighborhood. So just a short distance away, Bill, we're right at Harrison and Laramie. We work every day to ensure our youth have all the tools they need to thrive.

34:50 This renovated station makes our neighborhood safer, more connected, and more vibrant. It means a young person can travel safely to our programs, an entrepreneur can travel. and easily commute to their business, and our elders and those with disabilities can navigate their community with the respect and ease they deserve. So this ribbon-cutting, it's a beautiful milestone. I'm going to say that. It's a great milestone. But it's also a reminder of what is possible when our city leaders, when our state and federal-level leaders come together and county

35:25 and pull in the same direction along with our community organizations. But let this station be the blueprint for continued equity, continued investment that the West Side deserves. So thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. And at this time, time to welcome our commissioner. That's what I'm doing.

35:57 So at this time, I want to welcome our fabulous, amazing Cook County Commissioner, Tara Stamps. good afternoon everyone and to all of my ladies over 50 god bless you i am truly excited to be here today because since having the opportunity to serve as cook county commissioner i have attended so many ground breakings so many ribbon cuttings and

36:29 celebrations of investment across this west side the 2.1 billion in the west side investment that our mayor speaks about is not just the number we can see it we can see it on our streets throughout our cta system in our community health centers up and down madison avenue up and down chicago avenue the investment is visible is meaningful and it's real and we appreciate it today we celebrate more than a reopening of the austin green line station we celebrate access connection and continued investment in chicago's west side one of the best ways to experience

37:02 this great city is through public transportation it allows us to see chicago's neighborhood meets its people and access everything our city has to offer public transportation is one of the great arteries that keeps chicago alive it connects peoples to jobs schools health care business recreation and opportunities wherever they need to go and then carries them safely home to the people they love as commissioner of cook county's first district i have the privilege of

37:33 representing communities across Chicago's west side and suburban Proviso Township. Transportation connects those communities across municipal boundaries. While this particular station reconstruction was funded through federal and state capital dollars, Cook County also supports the CTA through its annual operating contribution because a strong regional transportation system benefits all of Cook County. Today we especially thank the workers, the laborers who made this reopening possible. from those who built and improved this station to the CTA employees who operate the trains and

38:11 maintain the equipment and keep our stations clean and safe. We also thank the passengers who rely on this system and keep it viable every day. Our transportation system could not function without the hands that build it, the workers who maintain it, and the passengers who keep it moving. Thank you to Congressman Danny Davis, Lester Barclay, Governor J.B. Prisker, our state local officials, and the elected officials who collectively represent the West

38:42 Side. I also want to recognize Alderman Chris Taliaferro, who could not be with us today because his people said he sent him to see his mama, as well as the state representatives, Camille Lillie and LaShawn Ford, and of course, Alderwoman Emma Mitz. And of course, thank you to our great, great mayor, Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Chicago Transit Board, and everyone at CTA. We see the investment, we feel the love, and we appreciate the progress. And thank you to the West Side. We appreciate it.

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