Managing the transportation network for a city like Chicago and its 35 suburbs is no easy feat. Each day, approximately one million residents rely on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to navigate the city via buses and trains that traverse thousands of miles of train track and roadway. CTA’s nearly 12,000 employees are essential to the city’s operations, embodying the heart and soul of Chicago.

Research shows that urban transit workers such as bus drivers and train operators suffer from higher rates of stress-related disease than workers in most other occupations. Everything from traffic and delays to difficult passengers makes being on time and arriving safely challenging. These types of occupational stressors have been associated with increased hypertension and gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems among bus drivers.

For the past 11 years, CTA has worked with Cigna Healthcare to help keep its employees healthy through medical, dental, and employee assistance program (EAP) services.

“We made a huge transition when we switched over to Cigna back in 2014,” said Mike Bowen, director of compensation and benefits for CTA. “It’s been beneficial for our employees and introduced many new programs, with the biggest change being the focus on holistic wellness.”

The impact of the pandemic on essential workers

CTA’s team of essential workers were already experiencing high levels of stress in the workplace prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. The pandemic only magnified their stress levels, adding new challenges and exacerbating existing ones.

“COVID came in and changed everything,” Bowen said. “It forced us to think about well-being in an expanded way, where mental health and physical health are interconnected. We realized that a multidimensional approach to health and well-being was essential.”

In thinking about the amount of stress that transit authority workers face, it was obvious that new approaches were needed. CTA knew it needed to foster a workplace culture that prioritizes employee health and wellness, while also making access to care as easy and seamless as possible.

“We needed to take what CTA was doing a step further and think more holistically about what their employees truly needed,” said Pamala Washington, Cigna Healthcare’s account executive for CTA. “Working with the Evernorth Behavioral Health team, we brought in two EAP counselors who rotate through CTA’s bus and rail stations. I am passionate about that, because they now have real-time EAP counselors who can provide in-the-moment services. We also installed two wellness hubs, which are free to employees. The hubs give them a way to shake off some of the stress they experience during their day.”

Accessing care without leaving the workplace

CTA and Cigna Healthcare worked together to establish an onsite wellness team to help educate employees about the mind-body connection and how to effectively deal with stress. In June of 2024, it installed new wellness hubs in CTA’s two largest bus garages, free of charge to employees. These wellness hubs include exercise equipment and room to do stretches, and are supported by licensed health coaches, including Travis Udeze, a fitness coach with Lambert Risk Management, the vendor that leads the program on behalf of CTA.

“The wellness hubs give employees a space to go to, relax and de-stress a little bit,” Udeze said. “They spend a long time in that seated position driving, so this is a space for them to relax, get a quick workout in, and maybe even talk to their coworkers about different stressors they’re experiencing.”

Udeze said that the hubs are seeing a lot more participation since they opened, with events like an eight-week Wellness Challenge hosted between the holidays last year boosting awareness. “People are truly excited about the space,” Udeze said.

Promoting employee wellness through on-site resources

In addition to the wellness hubs, Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Behavioral Health worked together to install two full-time EAP counselors who rotate through all of CTA’s locations. Most of their work involves sharing information about telehealth and behavioral health apps that are available to them through their health plan. Additionally, they connect employees to resources for those who may need additional help with caregiving, pet care, credit counseling, or financial stress. Most importantly, though, they are available to talk with employees who are dealing with significant stress in the moment.

“There isn’t necessarily respect for bus drivers, and there are interactions that can be hostile or abusive,” said Robert Bana, one of CTA’s onsite EAP resource counselors. “It helps to chat about it a little bit and provide some empathy.”

In addition to private sessions, the EAP counselors host stress management activities that incorporate mindfulness and muscle tension relaxation. They refer employees to the wellness hubs so they can release some of the day-to-day stress and “shake the day off.” At the wellness hubs, Udeze will refer employees who are struggling to the EAP counselors.

The program is still in its early stages, but the implementation of these programs and services demonstrates CTA’s commitment to employee health and well-being.

“We have a team that didn’t exist 10 years ago, focused on well-being, mental health, stress reduction and the physical component of wellness,” Bowen said. “To our employees that’s huge, and it shows that we do care.”