Chicago-area residents who want to influence CTA and Metra schedules and fares now have a new primary target: the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, or NITA. WTTW News reported in October 2026 that NITA has replaced the Regional Transportation Authority as the oversight agency for CTA, Metra and Pace, putting it in charge of system-level decisions about schedules, fares and special initiatives. That means feedback aimed at changing fare policy or reshaping service should go to NITA, while day-to-day problems — a late bus, a dirty rail car — remain with the operating agencies.
The New Era of Chicago Transit Governance: Introducing NITA
According to WTTW News, NITA was created by the Illinois General Assembly as part of a $1.5 billion transit bill in October 2025, and it officially replaced the Regional Transportation Authority in September 2026. The change, as the outlet described it, aims to establish a more efficient way to run and fund Chicago-area public transit after years of debate made worse by the loss of fare revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic pandemic.
The scale of the transition is still unfolding. NITA board chair Tom Kotarac told WTTW that the agency is already making changes and that passengers will continue to notice the real effects for years. One early change the board implemented extends student-fare pricing to weekends, the summer and non-school hours. For riders, the practical significance is simpler: the body that decides how service and fares are structured has changed, so the old habit of directing policy complaints to the RTA or the operating boards alone no longer matches the current structure.
NITA's Core Responsibilities and Priorities for Northern Illinois Transit
WTTW News drew a clear division of labor: CTA, Metra and Pace continue managing day-to-day operations, while NITA is in charge of overseeing things like schedules, fares and special initiatives. That makes NITA the venue for arguments about how the system should be designed — which lines get how much service, how fares are structured across agencies, and what new programs are funded.
The agency's leaders have been explicit about their priorities. Public safety sits at the top of the list, according to WTTW's reporting, and a companion WTTW segment on Chicago Tonight summarized the agenda as coordinated schedules, improved public safety and a universal fare system. Kotarac also framed the resource question as one that public input is meant to answer: "We already know what people care about — service, on time, safe, clean — but when we have a fixed amount of resources, how should we allocate them? That's really our priority to get from all the engagement activities that we'll be doing."
That quote matters for residents planning to comment. NITA's leadership is not asking only whether riders are satisfied; it is asking how a limited budget should be divided among competing needs. Feedback that speaks to that allocation question — for example, arguing that a particular corridor deserves priority over another — is framed in the same terms the agency's chair says he wants to hear.
New Transit Governance: Who to Contact for What
The table below sorts the responsibilities described in the October 2026 reporting into a practical routing guide. The distinction comes directly from WTTW's account of the new structure: NITA holds strategic oversight of schedules, fares and special initiatives, while CTA and Metra run daily service. Use it to decide where a given piece of feedback belongs before you send it.
| Agency | Role | Stated priorities or focus | Where your feedback fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) | Oversight agency for CTA, Metra and Pace; replaced the RTA in September 2026, per WTTW News | Coordinated schedules, a universal fare system and public safety, as stated by agency leaders | Systemic input: fare policy, schedule coordination across agencies, service allocation and special initiatives |
| Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) | Manages day-to-day operations of buses and trains | Daily service delivery | Operational problems on a specific route, vehicle or station |
| Metra | Manages day-to-day operations of commuter rail | Daily service delivery | Operational problems on a specific line, train or station |
The dividing line is the scope of the complaint. A late bus or a broken fare machine is an operational issue that CTA or Metra staff can fix; a proposal to change weekend fare rules or to shift service hours across the region is a policy question that, under the structure WTTW described, now sits with NITA.
How to Influence NITA: Public Engagement and Board Meetings
NITA's board meets in public, and its official website lists upcoming meetings with dates, times and locations. As of the schedule posted in late 2026, the board was set to meet on November 12, 2026, at 1:00 PM and December 10, 2026, at 9:00 AM, both in the Board Room on the 16th floor at 175 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago. The site also indicates the meetings can be watched, and offers calendar entries for both dates.
Public comment is an expected part of these meetings. The advocacy campaign Save Transit, organized by Better Streets Chicago, is urging residents to attend NITA board meetings to provide public comment, arguing that the promises of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act — unified fares, service standards, more reliable service and accountability — depend on continued public pressure. The campaign offers an RSVP for updates on expectations and tips for providing comment, and lists multiple meeting times and hybrid locations.
Because NITA is newly established, its formal comment procedures are still taking shape, and the initial engagement plans described by its leaders may change. What the October 2026 reporting establishes firmly is the direction of the channel: Kotarac says the agency's resource-allocation decisions are meant to be informed by the engagement activities it will be running, and the board's meetings are the visible venue where that input lands. Residents preparing to speak will get the most current rules — sign-up procedures, time limits and any written-comment options — from the meeting notices and materials published on NITA's own site, since those details were not yet fixed in the reporting reviewed here.
Directing Your Transit Feedback for Impact
To influence systemic changes to CTA and Metra schedules and fares, residents should engage directly with the Northern Illinois Transit Authority through its public board meetings and stated public engagement channels, rather than relying on the outdated RTA framework or treating the operating agencies as the final word on policy. The evidence-backed division is straightforward: bring operational failures to CTA or Metra, and bring arguments about fares, schedules and resource allocation to NITA, whose chair has said that allocation is precisely what he wants public engagement to inform.
The concrete next step is to check NITA's official website for updated meeting schedules, agendas, and any published public comment submission guidelines. The November 12, 2026 board meeting at 175 W. Jackson Blvd. is the first dated opportunity listed in the published schedule, and the appearance of formal comment procedures on the agency's site will be the measurable sign that the engagement structure Kotarac described is fully in place.
