CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. Announces Retirement

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. has announced that he will retire from the agency Jan. 31. In the coming weeks, he will assume leadership of Saint Anthony Hospital on Chicago’s West Side, where he will serve as president and CEO.

Carter began his CTA career in 1984 as a staff attorney and has worked at the agency for a combined 26 years. During that time, he served as acting president, executive vice-president, chief administrative officer, and in a number of legal roles. His public transit career has also included nearly 15 years in senior leadership roles at USDOT and FTA.

During his tenure as CTA president, Carter has overseen more than $11 billion in projects that have been completed, begun, or announced, including the $5.7 billion Red Line Extension (RLE)—the single largest capital construction project in the agency’s history—the $2.1 billion first phase of the Red Purple Modernization Program, the $280 million renovation of the 95th/Dan Ryan Terminal, and the $203 million Wilson Station Reconstruction project.

Carter has received numerous awards and honors, including the Council of University Transportation Centers’ 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award for Transportation Professional and Public Service. He was also the recipient of APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation Manager Award in 2021, the same year that CTA was recognized with APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation System Award. Also in 2021, he won TRB’s Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lectureship Award.

Carter served as APTA chair from 2022-2023. He is currently co-chair of the Equity in Infrastructure Project and is a member of the board of directors for Mpact. He is chair of the APTA Bus Task Force and is a member of APTA’s Public Transportation CEO Coordinating Council, Mobility Recovery & Restoration Task Force, and Diversity and Inclusion Council and serves on the Legislative, Legacy Systems, Bus & Paratransit CEOs, and Rail Transit CEOs committees, among others.