RTA Releases Semi-Annual Project Management Oversight Report

RTA Photo

CHICAGO - The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) released a semi-annual project management oversight report for more than 100 capital projects.

The Project Management Oversight (PMO) report details the status of major capital projects, says RTA. Within PMO, the RTA can ensure that CTA, Metra, and Pace are “spending capital funds responsibly and managing projects efficiently.” Within the program, there is oversight of all transit projects that are state funded and any projects that have a budget of more than $10 million.

According to the report, there are 86 active state funded projects with a combined budget of $11.2 billion. Of that total, $3 billion is in state funding. The RTA highlighted a few specific projects below in the report.

CTA’s Racine Station, Morgan Substation, and Hermitage Traction Power Improvements project is expected to be complete in August. It has a budget of $119 million and seeks to reconstruct the Racine Stationhouse, improve traction power at Morgan Substation, and replace equipment at Hermitage Substation. Additionally, it includes ADA improvements at Racine Station. In October 2025, the east entrance of the station reopened to the public after renovations. As of reporting, crews are working on demolition and foundation work at the west entrance.

With an expected completion date of August 2028, Metra’s Zero-Emission Trainsets project seeks to introduce battery-powered, self-propelled transits into service on the Rock Island Line, says RTA. These include eight two-car transits. As of reporting the final design review is underway after the intermediate design phase was completed. Currently, Metra has a change order in progress to upgrade the transits to higher-capacity batteries that will “extend the trainsets’ operating range.” In October of this year, the first unit is expected to be delivered. Once this project is completed, Metra will be one of the first passenger agencies in the nation to “purchase and operate self-propelled transits that do not require wayside power.”

Phase 1 of Pace’s North Division Garage Electrification was completed in November 2025. Phase 2 is still ongoing. With a budget of $16.9 million, the North Division bus garage in Waukegan was renovated, including improvements to bus charging dispensers, electrical infrastructure, and drainage structures, among others.

RTA says its 2025 Asset Condition Report focuses on the need for an annual $4 billion investment over the next two decades to support transit improvements in an effort to “improve accessibility, reliability, and equity.” Now, the five-year capital program averages less than $2 billion per year. Its Transit is the Answer Coalition is a response to this disparity, where those can advocate for developing “more sustainable funding streams to maintain and improve the transit system.”