RTA Welcomes Summer 2025 Interns

Image: New interns Lucas Sreniawski, Izzie Bjonness-Jacobsen, and Luka Bettich (from left to right)

This June, the RTA is proud to introduce its five new and continuing interns. Joining the team from universities just down the street to across international borders, the interns will be working in Regional Coordination, Communications, IT, and Local Planning to help the RTA coordinate the Chicago region's transit system and shape a future with adequate, accessible, and equitable public transportation.

Let's get to know the interns and find out what aspects of transit are most interesting to them.

Joseph Barry is a returning intern with the Regional Coordination Division. He just graduated from the Master of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Currently, he is helping update and expand wayfinding for public transit riders in the Chicago region.

This summer, Joe is looking forward to exploring how the RTA, CTA, Metra, and Pace work together to carry out system-wide improvements to public transit. In addition to his zeal for transit's ability to make cities more livable, Joe has taken a keen interest in using transit to explore the Chicago region's natural spaces and forest preserves.

Luka Bettich is joining the Regional Coordination Division this summer. He is a candidate for UIC's MUPP degree and hopes to specialize in public transportation planning and management. Alongside the rest of the Regional Coordination team, Luka will contribute to information design for signs, maps, and additional wayfinding tools at Chicagoland's regional transit hubs.

Luka is glad to have the opportunity to leave his own positive mark on the way people interact with and use public transit in the Chicago region through this internship. He enjoys learning about how the regional transportation system has evolved over time and coming up with ways to improve it going into the future.

Izzie Bjonness-Jacobsen will be spending their summer with the Communications department. They just wrapped up their first year in the Master of Community and Regional Planning program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As part of the Communications team, Izzie will be connecting with the RTA's audiences through the agency's blog, social media channels, and more.

Izzie is excited to immerse herself in the Chicago region's transit planning ecosystem as she communicates complex concepts in engaging and understandable ways. Izzie has seen firsthand how access to reliable public transportation opens people's lives up to new possibilities and is inspired by transit's positive impacts on mental health, financial wellness, and quality of life for everyone.

Jeremiah Eaton joined the RTA's Information Technology department as an intern in February. As a candidate for a M.S. in Cybersecurity with a focus on Networks and Infrastructure at DePaul University, Jeremiah is currently most drawn to IAM (Identity and Access Management) and GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance). Jeremiah works with the IT team to provide technical support, system maintenance, network support, documentation, and assistance with security tasks that support the RTA's everyday operations.

During this internship, Jeremiah is eager to continue applying concepts from classes to practical work with industry-standard systems and technologies. Jeremiah finds it interesting to see how much behind-the-scenes work goes into providing reliable transportation to millions of people each year.

Lucas Sreniawski is a new intern with the Local Planning department this summer. He will be working on projects supporting the varied local communities the RTA serves. As a student in UIC's MUPP program specializing in Urban Transportation, Lucas is especially interested in exploring relationships between land use and public transportation.

Lucas is looking forward to helping neighborhoods and municipalities in Chicagoland plan housing, infrastructure, and business activity in ways that take advantage of the transit network's full potential. He believes robust public transportation has the power to meaningfully benefit communities by helping cultivate equitable, affordable, and livable neighborhoods.

The RTA is thrilled to welcome interns who recognize the critical role of public transit in stewarding safe, reliable, accessible public transportation that connects people to opportunity and advances equity.

To learn more about the ways that transit can help create a more equitable and thriving region and join our coalition for transit funding, see the Transit is the Answer website.