The CTA Is Rolling Out 130 New Train Arrival Time Displays

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Apr 5, 2017 8:27PM

The Chicago Transit Authority is rolling out a new set of digital displays that will show train arrival times (mixed with advertisements, of course) over the next two years. The CTA is also upgrading 159 of its current 283 digital displays.

One useful new feature will have service alerts and Train Tracker information on continuous display—so even when an advertisement flashes up on the screen, you'll be able to see information about when your train is arriving without having to wait. As someone who typically plans her CTA travel down to the second, little frustrates me more than when I'm rushing to catch a train and I can't quickly confirm the train's arrival time at a station entrance because the digital display is cycling through an ad.

The CTA said in a press release that the new displays will come at "no cost" to the agency, thanks to its contract with local advertising company Intersection, and will generate additional revenue for the transit agency, while the cost of upgrading the existing displays will be deducted from existing ad revenue. Last year advertisements across the transit system generated $27 million in revenue for the CTA, according to the release.

The changes and upgrades to the displays in front of CTA stations and on the platforms will start this summer and run through 2018.

“One of my top priorities is to continually seek out new ways of improving the customer experience and make taking public transit the most logical, easy and convenient travel option,” CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. said in a statement.