New CTA safety specialists begin working on trains

All right, we're learning new details about a CTA program to help keep riders safe. Yes, Brittany Tulis is joining us live with more details on what is in store on CTA platforms, bus stops, that kind of thing. Brittany, good morning. Yeah, good morning, guys. Earlier this year, the CTA locked in CPD and Cook County deputies to help police the trains and CTA property. Well, it's expanding and adding another layer, and the expansion is the Safe Riders Pilot Program. You'll start seeing them on trains. You may have already started seeing them on trains this month, And here's how it works. The safe ride specialists will be on CTA trains working alongside and with CPD and those Cook County deputies, but they also have their own objectives. Now this is how it'll work. There's two kinds of safe riders and they'll be wearing vests with their roles on it. It'll either say crisis intervention specialists or community violence intervention specialists. The violence intervention experts will specialize in de-escalation and building positive relationships with youth and young adults utilizing the CTA. The crisis intervention experts are there to link people in need with services like housing, mental health, and substance abuse treatments. So the Safe Riders started earlier this month, and here's where you'll be seeing them on CTA. The crisis intervention specialists will be on the Blue Line O'Hare branch from Logan Square to Jefferson Park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week, and also on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the week. Then you'll see them on the Green Line from the Harlem Lake Stop to the Conservatory Central Park Stop during the week from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. and also on Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. The Violence Intervention Specialists will have the longest stretch. You'll see them on the Red Line from the Lake Stop to the Roosevelt Stop from noon to 3 a.m. and you'll see them seven days a week. Now when it comes to crime on the CTA, the FBI stats show it's gone down about 30% total and close to a 40% drop in crime on trains this year through October 11th compared to the same time last year. Homicides and shootings have also dropped over 55%. The October 8th killing, though, of CTA worker Julian Mobley still on the minds of CTA employees, with the union calling for more protections following that just horrific incident. Now, two areas where CTA crime has increased, sexual assaults and arson, that last one seeing a 66% increase. Now, the Safe Riders is a year-long pilot program that costs about $9.6 million and was paid for by money already allocated by the CTA and with money authorized just before the NITA was passed. Now, again, this is a pilot program. It lasts a year, and throughout this year, the CTA will be tracking the interactions and just looking at how things are done and pivot from there, whether or not they need to improve them or add them to more places. I'll send it back to you guys for now. It will be interesting to see what they gather throughout this year. All right, Brittany, thank you for that report.