Dorval Carter embarked on a “legislative tour” of his transit system with Black lawmakers this week, the latest endeavor by the embattled CTA president to curry favor with key government officials amid mounting discontent over his leadership and an urgent need for more state funding.
In images posted on social media by a Chicago Transit Authority official, TikTok historian Sherman “Dilla” Thomas is seen giving speeches inside a CTA bus and outside stations to a small audience that includes Carter and members of the Black Caucuses of the City Council and the Illinois General Assembly. Another Instagram post from state Rep. Kimberly du Buclet shows both Thomas and Carter standing to speak to the group inside a bus.
“Showcasing both opportunities and cold hard truths about how transit is at the heartbeat of our city and region,” CTA’s chief equity and engagement officer Denise Wilmer Barreto wrote in a LinkedIn post that says the tour happened Wednesday. “Thanks to all the staff and lawmakers who gave us 4 hours of your life today to join us in figuring out how to avoid the looming fiscal cliff.”
Carter’s move signals his boldest move yet to rehabilitate his image and beat back critics after a groundswell of Chicago politicians have called for his resignation or firing, citing an unacceptable post-pandemic recovery they say has hobbled public transit in the nation’s third-largest city. Those critics have included Gov. J.B. Pritzker and a majority of City Council members, though not Mayor Brandon Johnson.
At the same time, the sight of many Chicago-based politicians partaking in the tour with Carter — who himself has drawn heat for not using CTA buses and trains more — raised the question why do they need a guide to familiarize them with their own city’s public transit agency?
To that end, state Rep. Marcus Evans acknowledged lawmakers like him who no longer ride the CTA regularly were there to play catch-up. But the Chicago Democrat maintained targeting Carter’s job was not the solution.
“When are we all going to say we must have a robust transit system?” Evans told the Tribune. “A safe, clean, robust transit system. All the personality blame game is wasting time. … If you fire Dorval, it doesn’t matter. But I just want a good system.”
The Wednesday tour was also another instance of Carter aligning himself with Black lawmakers who have been the most hesitant to break with him, after last month’s City Council hearing in which he blasted calls for his ouster as racist.
However, Carter’s staff is also reaching out to other legislative groups, such as the Latino Caucus in the council, Ald. Andre Vasquez told the Tribune. The 40th Ward alderman, vice chair of the caucus and a vocal Carter critic, said he is interested in the offer as “a good first step” but wary about whether it will suffice.
“Like anything else, it’s gotta be more than just words and tours. It has to be action,” Vasquez said. “I think it is unfortunate that it feels like a rare sight and a momentous occasion that the CTA president is riding the service that he’s in charge of.”
CTA spokesperson Catherine Hosinski said the tour was “planned by the city and co-hosted by the CTA.” However, Johnson spokesman Ronnie Reese said the administration’s role in coordinating the tours was “none.”
Hosinski’s statement said the tour “went well beyond public transit and addressed topics related to housing” and stretched from the 63rd Green Line stop to the Laramie/Lake station on the West Side. She said Thomas, the historian, was “sponsored” to attend by a CTA lobbyist and more legislative tours are coming through the fall.
“The goal of this tour … was to go beyond text and rhetoric and show the true impacts of disinvestment and show why more needs to be done at the local and state levels to financially support these predominantly low income and minority communities,” Hosinski wrote. “CTA has hosted a variety of tours, both large and small, over the years.”
Barreto’s LinkedIn post suggests someone first overheard a figure at the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation floating, “We should do something in the city for folks to see CTA up close.”
Johnson’s office did push the effort via a flyer from his intergovernmental affairs office that reads: “Legislative Tour featuring CTA, Chicago Park District, Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus and Chicago’s Urban Historian Sherman ‘Dilla’ Thomas.” His IGA head, Sydney Holman, also gave remarks, the CTA statement noted.
The description says the four-hour tour began at CTA’s headquarters in the West Loop before stopping at three locations “while experiencing transit as everyday Chicagoans on a quick Green Line ride on Chicago’s West Side.” Barreto’s post, meanwhile, said 10 state representatives, two state senators and seven aldermen joined Wednesday.
The flyer also notes: “Limited paid street parking available and one public lot at 180 N Jefferson $16.50 for 6 hours.”
Part of the impetus behind the tour, Barreto wrote, was to address the region’s looming $730 million fiscal cliff once pandemic aid dries up in early 2026. But hanging over that was a pending bill in Springfield to wrest control of the CTA from Johnson — Carter’s ally — and consolidate it with the region’s other three transit agencies. Vasquez also introduced a council resolution signed by 29 aldermen that calls for new CTA leadership.
In his messaging push over the past year, Carter has stressed the focus should be on how transit is funded instead of governed. “The truth of the matter is, if we have the money to support the types of things that we’re doing, it’s a lot easier to get the agreement on the policy side,” he said at Tuesday’s CTA board meeting.
Vasquez, however, found those lines to be an attempt to distract from fair criticism.
“Think about anyone in any level of leadership that you would want to run anything, and if they came to you and said, ‘Hey, it’s not about how I’m running things. It’s about me getting more money,’” Vasquez said. “What would any employer say to that, right? You earn the funding.”
However, Evans said it’s the lack of funding for CTA that is the problem, not Carter’s leadership.
The state representative said he supports Springfield opening up its coffers for the transit system, which he believes has been shortchanged by the current funding structure. Evans also said he is “adamantly opposed” to consolidating the CTA with the rest of the region’s transit and giving suburban officials control over the city’s transit.
“Literally, the system is set up for failure,” Evans said. “And we wonder why it’s a bad system.”
One notable member of the House’s Black Caucus absent Wednesday was state Rep. Kambium “Kam” Buckner, an outspoken Carter critic who campaigned for mayor in 2023 on a platform of fixing the CTA. He had a conflict that day, but he said he thinks Carter’s play was “smart” while also showing that “there are obviously politics involved here.”
“It’s one thing to impress us. It’s another thing to impress the people that we work for, right, which is our constituents,” Buckner said. “As a person who takes the CTA a lot — I’m actually heading to the Blue Line shortly here after this conversation — I don’t really need a CTA guided tour to understand the system.”
Chicago Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner contributed.
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