Richard Wronski

Richard Wronski is a veteran Chicago journalist, with more than 40 years of experience as a writer and editor at four daily newspapers.

Richard spent 26 years as a reporter and editor at the Chicago Tribune, most recently as one of the Tribune’s two transportation reporters.

Richard specialized in two of the most-used public transportation systems: Metra, the Northeastern Illinois commuter rail agency which provides more than 300,000 trips a day; and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, which sees more than 1 million vehicles daily.

He also covered Pace, the suburban bus agency; and the Regional Transportation Authority, the umbrella agency that oversees the CTA, Metra and Pace. Richard also wrote extensively about transportation funding, legislation and related issues.

He also covered issues like the Canadian National Railway’s controversial 2009 purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad and events such as the runaway CTA Blue Line train that crashed at O’Hare International Airport in 2014.

Richard was one of the first reporters in the nation to focus attention on the transportation of crude oil by train, inadequate safety of certain tank cars, the potential hazards these shipments pose to the Chicago area, and efforts by the federal government to ensure safety.