Chicago Transit Authority

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and 35 of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . The CTA is an Illinois independent governmental agency that started operations on October 1, 1947, upon the purchase and combination of the transportation assets of the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the Chicago Surface Lines streetcar system. In 1952, CTA purchased the assets of the Chicago Motor Coach Company, which was under the control of Yellow Cab Company founder John D. Hertz, resulting in a fully unified system. Today, the CTA is one of the three service boards financially supported by the Regional Transportation Authority and CTA service connects with the commuter rail Metra, and suburban bus and paratransit service, Pace. Operations The Chicago Transit Authority provides service in Chicago and 10 surrounding suburbs. The CTA provided a total of 532 million rides in 2011, a 3 percent increase over 2010 with ridership rising to levels not seen for 20 years.