Chicagoland’s three regional transit agencies—the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace Suburban Bus— invite riders and the general public to celebrate Transit Employee Appreciation Day (TEAD) on Saturday, March 18.
Riders and residents are encouraged to simply say or wave “Thank you!” to area bus and rail operators, conductors, and other transit workers – from custodians to customer service assistants at stations. Like so many businesses throughout our country, the pandemic has impacted the region’s transit agencies like never before. Yet the CTA, Metra and Pace operators, engineers, mechanics, and other support personnel who play a critical role in keeping our systems moving each day have demonstrated their dedication, professionalism, and courage throughout the pandemic by continuing to provide safe, reliable transportation for the public.
“Thousands of CTA’s dedicated employees go to work every day to serve our great city – to keep us moving forward,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “Once a year, on March 18th we ask our customers to share their appreciation to public transit employees, by saying “thank you” and using hash tag #TEAD tag to express your gratitude. I hope all Chicagoans will join us in this ‘call to action’ to show your appreciation.”
“It takes significant coordination and effort by thousands of workers to provide the safe, reliable, comfortable and affordable service that our customers rely upon,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “On thisday, we encourage all our customers to take a moment to thank those workers for their hard work, dedication and professionalism.”
“Our transit operators keep our region connected by helping essential workers get to their critical jobs and by maintaining access to medical care and vital services for residents. Today, and every day, I am grateful for their service and applaud their dedication to the people of our region. Please join us and thank your bus or train operator today,” said Pace Executive Director Melinda J. Metzger.
Share your support and gratitude this Transit Employee Appreciation Day any of the following ways:
- Wave or provide an in-person greeting
- Post a “shout-out” on social media channels using the hashtag #TEAD, or
- Offer praise to a particular employee by submitting a commendation online or by calling the respective transit agency (CTA: 888-YOUR-CTA or transitchicago.com/feedback/; Metra: 312-322-6777 or metra.com/contact-us; Pace: 847-364-7223, option 3, or https://www.pacebus.com/submitcomments).
As the region continues to recover from the pandemic, transit ridership continues to grow. In 2022, CTAridership has increased by 24% -- or 47 million additional rides system-wide versus the previous year. Metra ridership increased nearly 70 percent and Pace continues to see increases with ridership at approximately 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
For more information about Transit Employee Appreciation Day 2023, visit the social media channels for CTA: (Twitter: @cta, Facebook: /thecta, Instagram: @chicagocta), Metra: (Twitter: @metra, Facebook: /metrarail,Instagram: @metrarail), and Pace: (Twitter: @pacesuburbanbus, Facebook: /pacebus).