RTA Citizens Advisory Board: Get to know Ayesha Akhtar

October 29, 2024

Following through on a key recommendation from regional transit strategic plan Transit is the Answer, the RTA launched a newly expanded, rider-focused Citizens Advisory Board (RTACAB) in March 2024, featuring the perspectives of a diverse group of 21 riders and agency leaders from across the region.

The RTACAB advises the agency’s staff and Board of Directors on accessibility, equity, and other impacts of its policies and programs. It has always included the chairpersons of CTA, Metra, and Pace Citizens Advisory Boards, as well as representatives from each of the six counties served in the RTA region. Transit is the Answer called on the agency to “expand the role of the RTACAB and strengthen the rider voice in transit planning and decision making.” The new RTACAB includes eight new “rider representative” positions: two for the City of Chicago, one for Suburban Cook County, and one each for other counties in the RTA region.

In a new Connections Blog series, RTA will profile each rider representative through a Q&A, digging into why community engagement is important, why transit matters to them, and more.

Ayesha Akhtar, Suburban Cook rider representative

Ayesha Akhtar is the VP of Health Equity, Education & Advocacy with the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago, after having been the Director of Education (since 2016), and the Education Coordinator beginning in 2011. Ayesha is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago, where she earned a BBA in accounting. In 2010 she earned her MPH from the University of Illinois-Chicago, focusing on culturally sensitive approaches to health care. She has over 20 years of experience as a public health advocate in a variety of settings and is passionate about advancing health equity by empowering and educating communities. She rides the Green Line twice weekly to work from Oak Park.

How and why did you come to join the RTACAB as a rider representative?

I started to learn about the RTA’s efforts to involve community during the summer of 2022. I attended a couple working groups [during development of Transit is the Answer] and quickly realized that I was representing a minority group and had a lot of questions from a public health lens for the RTA that had never been asked before. I enjoyed the conversation and the willingness from the RTA to learn more about the people I was representing.

What is your transit experience like? What do you like about riding transit, and what could be improved?

My door-to-door commute is 30 minutes—you can’t beat that! For the most part, my commute is fairly reliable and predictable. I appreciate that I can use my phone to get through the turnstile. I do wish the app had the ability to show rider capacity so I could know if a train/car was super packed or not, especially when riding during flu season!

Why are you passionate about transit?

When you travel the world, you see how established a transit system can be within a city or community. I’ve been fortunate to take the bullet train in Japan, and the Eurail between many countries. So much of my exploring is absolutely dependent on transit and the ability to move from place to place without questioning the possibility. Transit moves people and improves economies.

How does transit interplay with public health? How can investing in transit lead to a healthier Chicago region?

I look at transit through a public health lens. It is a social determinant of health, which means having access to safe, reliable transit is an indicator of positive health outcomes. It also enables people to move through and participate in society. Transit connects people to work, play, and better health. Think about the lack of transit in a community: It might increase auto traffic, which increases the risk of accidents and pollution. Investing in a transit system keeps people moving safely using economies of scale.

What are your ideas for building the public and political support to invest in transit?

Building commerce or green spaces near transit stops will help to lure people to ride. The new Damen stop on the Green Line is a perfect example. Not only is it a beautiful new station, but it will make traveling to the United Center for an event tremendously easier which means fewer cars, less congestion, less headache.

What would it mean for riders in the communities you represent if transit is unable to find a sustainable funding solution to the fiscal cliff and experiences major service cuts?

Thank you for this question because it is why I joined the RTACAB in the first place! I work in the health equity space for people with epilepsy. The very first privilege to be taken away from someone having a seizure is their ability to drive. In Illinois, you must be seizure free for six months before you can get behind the wheel. Can you imagine how your life would change if for six months you were not able to drive yourself to work, school, the gym, the grocery store, to meet a friend, or to a doctor’s appointment? If you didn’t live in an area that had safe, reliable transit, you would have to lean on family or rideshare. Cuts in funding will have deleterious effects on all people with disabilities, visible or non-visible.

Why do you think it’s important for public agencies like the RTA to engage with communities, such as through the newly expanded RTACAB?

Transit is for the people, so include the people at the table to learn about one another and make decisions. Simple as that.

Who do you think is missing from current conversations about public transportation policy issues, and how would you like to see the RTA engage them?

I would like to have policy address transit deserts and the subsequent qualification for paratransit. If someone lives in a transit desert, that would imply they need even more support and access to a system that supports their needs to get around safely just like everyone else. Could there be a reliable bus shuttle system that picks up individuals from a central location and then transports them to the nearest train station? We are not reaching the population in transit deserts, and we need to hear from them.

What is your favorite transit memory?

My favorite transit memory is something that taught me a life lesson many years ago! I was a twenty-something summer intern at an investment banking firm in downtown Chicago and I hopped on a 5 p.m. Metra with a bag of greasy fast food. I opened the bag and the woman next to me had a visceral reaction, which I didn’t understand at the time. She made a comment to me that she just had chemotherapy and was now nauseous; she got up and left. Later into that ride I connected my actions and felt terrible. We don’t know what other riders are going through in life, or where they are headed, but we can be our best selves (hint: no eating on the train) so that collectively we have a great ride to our destination.