How pregnant riders can get a CTA ‘Baby on Board’ button

In an effort to encourage L train passengers to be more courteous, the CTA has printed its own ‘Baby on Board’ buttons for pregnant riders on L trains and buses.

The CTA launched the initiative on Monday as a way to take its courtesy campaign one step further.

The pins will be available for free at the CTA headquarters located downtown at 567 W. Lake Street or through several partnering hospitals which include Prentice Women’s Hospital, University of Chicago Medicine, Rush Medical Center, St. Anthony Hospital, and Stroger Hospital. Residents can also request a button through an online order form which will be delivered to their address.

“Giving up a seat to a pregnant passenger is not a requirement, but, Chicagoans are special. We know most riders are kind and courteous, and they’ll do the right thing by happily offering their seat to pregnant riders,” the agency said in a statement.

The transit agency released the buttons less than a week after a group of mothers got together to create and hand out their own buttons after deciding they didn’t want to wait any longer. Those buttons will still be handed out tomorrow morning near the Goddess and the Grocer.

Other than the courtesy campaign, the CTA doesn’t have specific plans for other possible changes regarding more family-friendly design or policies on L trains or buses, although the pins are just “the latest effort toward that goal,” the agency said.

In some cities, public transportation is more family friendly with wider platforms and dedicated family areas or cars. Other transit agencies also allow open strollers on buses which can make rides more accessible. The CTA’s policy is to ask families to close strollers on crowded buses.