As Dorval Carter retires, CTA needs a new boss who won't be same as the old boss

Dorval Carter Jr., has taken his fair share of knocks from all sides as CTA president for overseeing a system in which trains and buses are too often late and riders don't feel safe.

That's all water under the Wells Street bridge now that Carter has announced he's ending his nearly 10 year career as CTA boss on Jan. 31.

But Carter's departure now makes it possible — and, we'd argue, imperative given the importance of public transit to Chicagoans — to bring aboard the kind of dynamic, innovative, yet still nuts-and-bolts boss the challenged transit agency desperately needs and has rarely had.

"We want someone who can bring in federal and state dollars, but can also understand the customer experience and also understands operations and how to literally run the trains on time," as state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago told the Sun-Times. "That's the job."

Yes, and it's a tough one — but one that has to be, and can be, done. The job is even more critical should support for the idea of merging the Chicago region's mass transit agencies continue to grow.

Unpopular in many quarters

Indeed, it was time for the embattled Carter to pull the exit cord.

Much of his term was marred by complaints from riders and elected officials that the CTA had become unsafe and unreliable, even as Carter's salary rose to some $376,000 — and that getting millions in needed extra funding from lawmakers in Springfield would be a near-impossibility as long as Carter remained in charge. Even Gov. JB Pritzker weighed in last spring, saying that, "I think that there needs to be an evolution of leadership in order for us to get where we need to go with CTA."

Carter's relationship with the City Council was so bad that nearly half of 50 Council members last year signed a non-binding resolution requesting he either resign or that Mayor Brandon Johnson fire him. Carter came under such fire that he had to appear before the Council to answer questions about the CTA's service and safety, and took umbrage over the criticism leveled against him.

"As an African American man, this city has a history of attacking and trying to bring down their African American leaders," he told aldermen. "I know that because I’ve been here and I’ve seen it. ... What I would hope is that we would work together to find a way to support our agency and make our agency better."

The high point of Carter's term was amassing the cash for the $5.7 billion Red Line extension project. Last Friday, he signed an agreement with the feds that will bring the last $2 billion (we hope) needed to extend the line to 130th Street from its current terminus at 95th Street.

Carter called it "one of the biggest, boldest equity investments in the history of this great city." True — but only if the city can make visionary development happen in the struggling South Side communities around the extension.

Who’s got next?

Carter's successor must be a new-school boss who will regularly ride the trains and buses (Carter didn’t) and understands how to make the system run like clockwork.
And the next leader must be serious about keeping passengers safe, and making sure the agency's trains and stations are clean. It's beyond annoying to see trash strewn about, or enter an elevator — imagine the experience of riders who use wheelchairs — that reeks of urine.

The new boss has to make the CTA function less like a stand-alone transit agency, but one that has to be better integrated (if a merger doesn't happen) with Metra and Pace in terms of fare structures, payment methods, schedules and future planning. Further, whoever is selected must also play nice with Springfield and City Hall — a skill Carter did not possess — and a Donald Trump-led Washington.

In other words, this is no time for amateurs or on-the-job learners. The next CTA president has to be a savvy, top-flight transit professional.

As mayor, Johnson gets to nominate Carter's replacement, who'd then be subject to what's traditionally been a pro forma approval by the CTA board.

Picking a new CTA boss will be one of the most consequential decisions of Johnson's administration. Carter's hefty salary is more than enough to hire someone with the skills to turn the agency around.

Johnson has to reach out beyond City Hall and his own network of friends and advisers. He must enlists the city's civic and business communities to help him find the right person for the job.

The CTA and the city deserve the best. The mayor must deliver.

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