Yes. If a CTA bus caused the injury, the filing deadline is usually 1 year, not the normal 2 years for most Illinois injury cases.

In the next 24 hours: get the basics locked down. Call 911 if that has not happened, make sure the crash or incident is documented by the Chicago Police Department, and get medical care the same day. If you can, save the bus number, route, driver name, time, location, and photos. On busy summer roads near Lake Shore Drive, I-90, or tourist-heavy downtown stops, details disappear fast and bus video may not be kept long.

In the next week: request the police crash report and make sure the CTA has an incident report tied to your case. Keep every ER note, discharge paper, imaging result, prescription receipt, and proof of missed work. If you are the only paycheck in the house, start a clean wage-loss file now: pay stubs, work schedule, and any note showing restricted duty or time off. Illinois claims against local public entities like the Chicago Transit Authority are governed by 745 ILCS 10/8-101, which is why this shorter deadline catches people who moved here from other states.

In the next month: do not treat this like a normal car crash claim with plenty of time. Figure out every potentially responsible party early. If another driver also contributed, the claim against that private driver may still carry a 2-year deadline under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, while the CTA side can still be 1 year. Those are different clocks. Also move quickly to preserve CTA camera footage and operator records before they are overwritten or harder to obtain.