Host Tours

Tour Metra’s in-house railcar rehab facility at its 49th Street Shops on Chicago’s South Side. The 49th Street Shops are where Metra takes its worn-out railcars and rehabilitates them to like-new condition. Customers often comment to crews that they are in a “new” car. Over the past 16 years, more than 480 railcars have passed through the facility. Learn about how creating an in-house program has allowed Metra to develop a highly skilled local workforce while saving the agency and the taxpayers more than $100 million in outsourcing costs.

Recommended Attire: Closed-toed shoes. This is an active work site (high-heeled shoes are not permitted). Additional PPE will be provided by Metra.
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 100 participants

Come see Chicago transit history in the making! The Chicago Transit Authority is now building a 5 1/2-mile extension of the Red Line, the city's busiest rail line, after it was first promised in 1969 by then Mayor Richard J. Daley. It's the first new rail line to be built in more than 30 years, since the Orange Line to Midway International Airport opened in 1993.

Join CTA to see Chicago's historic and proud Far South Side communities, where the Extension is under construction. Learn its history, including why it has the fewest transit options in the Chicago metropolitan area and what led to a prolonged era of disinvestment and loss of businesses and residents — and why community members never stopped fighting for this project. Hear from CTA on how the Red Line Extension Project is turning that around, including building four new, fully accessible stations across multiple communities and a thoughtful roadmap to generate Transit Supportive Development near or along a medical district, former shopping corridor and other neighborhoods.

The project is already hiring from the community and is creating tremendous opportunity for new jobs and investments that will strengthen families and neighborhoods and will hopefully inspire all of us in the transit industry that our work can truly make a difference.

ADA Accessible: Yes
Recommended Attire: comfortable shoes to walk in
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 100 participants

Tour Metra’s in-house railcar rehab facility at its 49th Street Shops on Chicago’s South Side. The 49th Street Shops are where Metra takes its worn-out railcars and rehabilitates them to like-new condition. Customers often comment to crews that they are in a “new” car. Over the past 16 years, more than 480 railcars have passed through the facility. Learn about how creating an in-house program has allowed Metra to develop a highly skilled local workforce while saving the agency and the taxpayers more than $100 million in outsourcing costs.

Recommended Attire: Closed-toed shoes. This is an active work site (high-heeled shoes are not permitted). Additional PPE will be provided by Metra.
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 100 participants

Participants will receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Control Center Operations and Security facilities. The tour will provide an overview of how CTA personnel monitor rail and bus service, coordinate daily operations, manage service disruptions, communicate with field employees, and support emergency response and service restoration. Participants will also learn how Operations Controllers and Security teams collaborate, use real-time information and technology, and make critical decisions to maintain safe, reliable, and efficient service throughout CTA’s transit system.

ADA Accessible: Yes
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 40 participants

Board a vintage elevated train from the 1920s to tour CTA's two oldest 'L' lines – the South Side and Lake Street elevated – along with the famed Loop elevated! See a variety of neighborhoods and communities, from Chicago's downtown to new, trendy areas to established neighborhoods to leafy outlying suburbs from an aerial vantage point aboard the oldest train in CTA's Heritage Fleet. Learn about the development and expansion of the early 'L', later changes and improvements and recent investments in these lines, as well as CTA's program to preserve and maintain a fleet of vintage trains and buses.

ADA Accessible: No (due to use of historic 1920s railcars)
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center
Recommended Attire: comfortable shoes to walk in

Capacity Limit: 90 participants

Enjoy a scenic ride along the historic CTA Brown Line in a vintage 'L' train from the 1950s! See a variety of neighborhoods and communities as the route travels from downtown commercial towers to residential condos, classic Chicago brick apartments, and tree-lined neighborhood streets as the train snakes between buildings and behind back porches. Enjoy this unique and captivating tour from an aerial vantage point aboard a classic Presidents Conference Committee (PCC) 'L' car, used on the CTA from the 1950s to 1992. Learn about the development and expansion of the 'L' and recent investments in these lines, as well as CTA's program to preserve and maintain a fleet of vintage trains and buses.

ADA Accessible: No (due to use of historic 1950s railcars)
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center
Recommended Attire: comfortable shoes to walk in

Capacity Limit: 90 participants

Travel the I-55 Bus on Shoulder corridor to Pace’s Heritage Division in Plainfield, home to Pace’s successful Bus on Shoulder Program. Launched on the Stevenson (I-55) Expressway in 2011 and made permanent by state legislation in 2014, the program continues to connect southwest suburban riders with downtown Chicago. After 15 years, Pace remains the only transit agency in Illinois authorized to operate buses on the shoulder.

Meal: Light breakfast items will be available at the garage

ADA Accessible: Yes

Recommended Attire: Closed-toed shoes for garage environment
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 90 participants

Participants will receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Control Center Operations and Security facilities. The tour will provide an overview of how CTA personnel monitor rail and bus service, coordinate daily operations, manage service disruptions, communicate with field employees, and support emergency response and service restoration. Participants will also learn how Operations Controllers and Security teams collaborate, use real-time information and technology, and make critical decisions to maintain safe, reliable, and efficient service throughout CTA’s transit system.

ADA Accessible: Yes
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 40 participants

See Chicago Transit Authority's recently completed $2.1B Red and Purple Modernization Phase One Project. The tour will feature a project overview provide as participants travel to Chicago's northside. Tour will include a visit to see the Red-Purple Bypass and new structure and track near Belmont and travel via train to one of the four newly built ADA Accessible stations (Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, Bryn Mawr). Travel by CTA's Red Line on the newly built modern structure and see the in-progress Under-L Activation work and future TOD sites. Participants will travel by dedicated CTA Bus to Chicago's north side and then travel by train through the RPM Project area and return via dedicated CTA Bus back to the conference.

ADA Accessible: Buses and stations are ADA Accessible - tour will require participants to travel via train
Recommended Attire: comfortable shoes to walk in
Pick Up/Drop Off: McCormick Place Convention Center

Capacity Limit: 40 participants