An injury on a CTA bus or train runs on a different clock than almost any other personal injury case in Illinois. Most injury claims carry a two-year deadline. Claims against the Chicago Transit Authority carry one. People who assume the ordinary rule applies routinely discover the difference after the deadline has already passed, and at that point there is no fix.
The following covers the deadline, the heightened duty the CTA owes its riders, the notice rule that no longer applies, and what to do after an incident on the system.
One Year, Not Two
Personal injury actions against the CTA are governed by section 41 of the statute that created the agency, found at 70 ILCS 3605/41, which requires the action to be commenced within one year. The general two-year limitations period in the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure does not apply.
The same shortened window catches other transit agencies. Illinois Legal Aid Online’s summary of limitations periods confirms the one-year rule for the CTA, and personal injury actions against Metra and Pace run under a separate one-year limitation as well. A rider who is hurt on a Pace bus, transfers the problem to the CTA in their memory, and files at eighteen months has missed the deadline in either case.
The Six-Month Notice Rule Was Repealed
For decades, section 41 also required an injured person to file a formal written notice with the CTA within six months, and Illinois courts enforced it strictly. Missing it barred the claim permanently, regardless of merit.
That notice requirement was repealed effective June 1, 2009. The one-year limitation period remains, but the separate six-month notice filing is no longer required for causes of action accruing on or after that date. This matters because a great deal of published material still describes the old rule as current, and a rider who reads that they blew a six-month deadline may wrongly conclude they have no case when they are still comfortably inside the one-year window. If you are past six months but inside a year, do not assume the claim is gone.
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The CTA Owes Riders a Higher Duty
Transit operators in Illinois are common carriers, and common carriers are held to a higher standard than the ordinary reasonable care that applies to most people and businesses. The duty covers passengers while riding, and it extends to boarding and exiting, continuing until the passenger has had a reasonable opportunity to reach a place of safety.
That standard has practical consequences. A bus that pulls away before an elderly passenger has cleared the step, a driver who accelerates hard while riders are still moving to seats, a train that stops with a gap or a level mismatch at the platform, and a door that closes on a passenger are all measured against the elevated standard rather than the ordinary one.
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The Incidents That Produce Claims
Sudden stops and hard acceleration cause a large share of bus injuries, particularly to standing riders and passengers who have not reached a seat. Collisions between buses and cars produce claims for riders and for the occupants of the other vehicle alike. Falls on stairs, escalators, and platforms raise questions about maintenance and lighting in stations. Doors closing on passengers or on clothing and bags remain a recurring category on both buses and trains.
Pedestrians and cyclists struck by buses face the same one-year deadline even though they were never passengers, because the deadline attaches to the defendant rather than to the plaintiff’s status. So does a driver whose car was hit by a bus. The shortened window is easy to miss in exactly those cases, since nothing about them feels like a transit claim.
Evidence Moves Fast on the System
The CTA operates extensive camera coverage on buses, on trains, and in stations, and that footage is the single most valuable piece of evidence in most of these cases. It also gets overwritten on a retention cycle. Nobody preserves it because an injury occurred unless someone asks, in writing, and asks early.
The same is true of operator statements, incident reports, maintenance records for the specific vehicle, and the run and route data that establishes which bus was where. Report the incident to the operator or station personnel at the time if you are able, and get the bus or train number, the route, the direction, and the time. Photograph the scene and any hazard involved. Get contact information from witnesses, because riders scatter within minutes and are effectively unfindable afterward.
Seek Medical Care and Document It
Get evaluated even if the injury seems minor at the scene. Sudden-stop injuries frequently produce neck, back, and shoulder damage that presents fully a day or two later, and a gap between the incident and the first medical visit is the argument every defendant makes. Tell the provider exactly how the injury happened.
Keep everything: the fare record showing you were on the vehicle, medical bills and records, and documentation of missed work. The fare card history in particular is a quiet but useful piece of proof that puts you on a specific vehicle at a specific time.
Getting Help Within the Window
A year sounds like plenty of time until you account for medical treatment that is still ongoing, an investigation that requires records the CTA holds, and video that has to be preserved in the first weeks. In practice the useful part of that year is the beginning of it.
Transit claims also raise procedural questions that ordinary car accident claims do not, including which entity actually operated the vehicle and whether other parties share responsibility for the conditions involved. If you were hurt on or by a CTA bus or train, our CTA bus and train accident attorneys can move quickly to preserve footage and evaluate the claim inside the shortened deadline. We also handle pedestrian accident claims for people struck by transit vehicles.
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