The goal of the campaign is to promote awareness that CTA will not tolerate harassment on its trains, buses or other CTA property and to provide helpful information to customers who believe they are the victims of harassment.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is expanding and updating its “If It’s Unwanted, It’s Harassment” public service campaign. The goal of the campaign is to promote awareness that CTA will not tolerate harassment on its trains, buses or other CTA property and to provide helpful information to customers who believe they are the victims of harassment.
The expanded awareness campaign builds on an earlier, effective version of the campaign that aimed to address harassment while riding the CTA and that established many of the agency’s procedures and protocols that are in place today.
The campaign, developed by CTA and working with community and advocacy organizations, will feature a series of messages that will appear on buses and trains and at train stations. The campaign will serve three purposes:
Encourage customers to report incidents that they experience or witness.
Educate customers on what to do if they believe they are victims of harassment.
Create awareness by putting would-be offenders on notice that harassment of CTA passengers will not be tolerated.
“The comfort and safety of passengers are our top priorities,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. “Though the number of incidents reported to us is small, we take every complaint seriously. Our updated and improved campaign will address some of the most commonly heard customer complaints about harassment on CTA buses and trains and send the message that harassment will not be tolerated on our system.”
Ad Loading...
To develop the updated campaign, CTA used feedback from customers, local advocates and insight from CTA security professionals.
The Plan is CTA's formal response to an FTA Special Directive issued in December and details how the agency will significantly expand the law enforcement surge it launched.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
During a safety blitz, Metra employees will visit one of the railroad’s 243 stations during the morning rush hour, distributing educational materials on train and grade-crossing safety, answering questions, and listening to riders’ safety concerns.
Operated in partnership with Tech Valley Security, trained CDTA Ambassadors will be on select routes and will rotate throughout CDTA’s route network. Their presence is intended to provide customers with an approachable, visible resource focused on assistance and engagement.
Customers have always been able to report concerns through the CATS Customer Service line or the “Report a Problem to CATS” feature in the CATS-Pass mobile app; however, CATS has also integrated a Text-a-Tip line, giving riders multiple, easy-to-use channels to get support.
