NITA Board of Directors holds first meeting, names new agency leadership, and expands reduced fare programs
September 10, 2026
September 10, 2026
CHICAGO — September 10, 2026 — The Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Board of Directors today met for the first time, hitting the ground running on programs that will make riding transit more seamless and affordable and naming key leadership positions to direct the agency’s future.
The Board unanimously elected Tom Kotarac as Board Chair and named Jamie Rhee as Interim Executive Director of NITA. They also voted to expand the Access Pilot Program to CTA and Pace, extending the program that offers reduced fares to all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to cover the entire regional transit system.
The NITA Board of Directors elected Tom Kotarac as Board Chair.
Tom Kotarac is Senior Vice President of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, where he leads the organization's transportation and infrastructure work. He previously served as Deputy Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), directing agency strategy and setting the research agenda across transportation, land use, economic development, housing, tax policy and governance. Earlier in his career, Kotarac spent more than 12 years on Capitol Hill with the Illinois congressional delegation, serving as senior policy advisor and projects director for U.S. Senator Richard Durbin.
Kotarac has served on the Regional Transportation Authority Board and chaired the RTA Subcommittee focused on the transition to NITA. He also sits on the CTA Board of Directors. He is a daily CTA train rider.
"I'm honored to take on this role at such a pivotal moment for transit in our region,” said Kotarac. “The NITA Act gives us a dual mandate: deliver real, immediate improvements for riders right now, while building the foundation for a world-class transit system. These first months will set the tone, and we're moving with urgency on the near-term work—like expanding Access to CTA and Pace—while laying the groundwork for the bigger, structural changes that will define how this region moves for decades to come."
The Board elected Jamie Rhee as NITA Interim Executive Director.
Jamie Rhee brings more than 30 years of progressive leadership in Chicago government to her role as NITA's Interim Executive Director, with a career spanning airport operations, procurement, real estate and regulatory compliance under four mayoral administrations. She most recently served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation from 2018 to 2025, overseeing daily operations and development at O'Hare and Midway International Airports—a system serving more than 100 million passengers annually—and completing the $6.6 billion O'Hare Modernization Program while advancing the $8.5 billion O'Hare 21 terminal expansion. In 2018 she was the recipient of the Motorola Solutions Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award, presented by the Civic Federation.
Rhee previously served as the City of Chicago's Chief Procurement Officer, managing approximately $2 billion in annual purchasing, and held senior roles including Deputy Chief of Staff in the Mayor's Office and General Counsel for the O'Hare Modernization Program. She holds a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University. She is a regular CTA rider who frequently uses the North Avenue or Kimball buses and the Blue Line on Chicago’s West side.
"Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of managing complex systems that move millions of people every day, and I'm excited to bring that experience to NITA at such a critical time,” said Rhee. “My focus as Interim Executive Director is to keep this agency moving by delivering as many early wins for riders as we can while building the strong operational foundation that sets our permanent Executive Director up for long-term success. Riders shouldn't have to wait to see the benefits of this new regional approach, and we're going to work hard to make sure they don't."
The NITA Board also voted to authorize the Chair to negotiate and execute a contract with K&A, a national executive search firm, to provide executive search services to recruit NITA’s permanent executive director.
Beginning Oct. 1, eligible Access riders will be able to pay reduced fares on CTA and Pace in addition to Metra, creating a regionwide reduced fare program for households receiving SNAP benefits.
Eligible riders can apply for the program at GetAccess.org.
The Access Pilot Program launched on Feb. 1, 2024, following the conclusion of the Fair Transit South Cook Pilot. Access expanded eligibility for reduced fares from two Metra lines to all Metra riders who were enrolled in the SNAP program. With the Board’s action today, those who qualify for the program can now ride at reduced fares of $1.00 for Pace, $1.10 for CTA bus and $1.25 for CTA trains.
More than 350,000 rides have been taken through the program since its launch, with the majority on the Metra Electric and Rock Island lines serving the south side of Chicago and into Southern Cook County.
“Expanding Access to CTA and Pace is an important first step as NITA takes on its new responsibility to set regional fare policy,” said Chairman Kotarac. “By making Access available across CTA, Metra and Pace, we’re turning a successful pilot into a regional benefit and making transit more affordable for riders who need it most.”
NITA staff also unveiled a new draft mapping tool to help municipalities implement the People Over Parking Act, a provision of the NITA Act that took effect June 1, 2026.
The law generally prohibits municipalities from imposing minimum automobile parking requirements on new development located within one-half mile of a Public Transportation Hub or one-eighth mile of a Public Transportation Corridor.
By removing mandatory parking minimums near transit, the law gives developers and communities greater flexibility to determine how much parking a project needs rather than requiring a minimum amount. Excessive parking requirements can increase development costs, consume valuable land near transit and make communities less walkable.
To support implementation of POPA, NITA staff, in close coordination with Metra, CTA, Pace and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), created a mapping tool depicting all locations in the region to which the Act applies. NITA also developed a companion methodology document explaining how Public Transportation Hubs and Corridors were identified.
Together, these resources are intended to help municipalities understand where POPA applies and update local parking regulations accordingly. The map is an interactive tool that municipalities can use to understand where new developments would be subject to POPA and subsequently revise parking regulations in those locations. See the map at https://nita.illinois.gov/popamap. NITA invites the public to submit feedback via a form on the webpage at http://nita.illinois.gov/popa.
The current map identifies Public Transportation Hubs and Public Transportation Corridors as of Jan. 1, 2027. NITA staff anticipates the next update will be in 2029 following completion of NITA’s region-wide consolidated transit service plan and associated service changes. After 2029, periodic updates will be made based on the direction of the NITA Board.
The first issue of the NITA News e-newsletter will be sent on Friday, Sept. 11. Register to receive news from the agency at https://nita.illinois.gov/news/sign-up-for-our-newsletter. Riders can also look for updates to On Track: A blog from NITA at https://nita.illinois.gov/blog.
The next meeting of the NITA Board of Directors takes place at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15.
