The Chicago Transit Board meets once a month to decide various CTA issues relating to the budget and infrastructureyet some of the board members don't even ride the CTA that often.

Longtime board member Alejandro Silva rode the CTA zero times last year while board member Rev. Charles Robinson rode the system once, according to data gathered through a Freedom of Information Act request by Going Public.

Board chairman Terry Peterson used his agency pass to ride the CTA 13 times last yearan improvement from when he became chairman of the board in 2009. In an interview with Going Public in 2010, six months into his tenure, he admitted he had not taken the CTA in two years.

"Using a CTA ID card for ridership is just one way board members are familiar with the system. Board members regularly receive reports from CTA operations, infrastructure and maintenance staff that monitor a wide range of CTA topicseverything from vehicle cleanliness and bus bunching, to [Americans with Disabilities Act] complaints and safety incidents, and more," Peterson said in a statement provided to GP. "Also, setting policy and making financial decisions for the agency depends on and draws from a wider range of information and data than is available simply by riding the system."

Silva, who was appointed by Mayor Daley, said through a CTA spokesman that he regularly uses the CTA but pays his own way. Robinson was unavailable for comment.

The CTA board is composed of seven membersfour appointed by the mayor and three appointed by the governor. There has been some turnover on the board recently, and two new board members were appointed in the last six months.

Some of the longtime board members ride the system regularly. Jacquelyne Grimshaw, a board member for three years, rode the system 199 times last year while three-year board member John Bouman rode it 67 times.

Meanwhile, CTA president Forrest Claypool rode the CTA 166 times last year since he started the job in late May. Claypool told Going Public recently in a sit-down interview that he is on the system every week.

Last week, Claypool and Peterson hosted community meetings on the South Side about next year's proposed five-month shutdown of the southern portion of the Red Line for construction.

At a meeting Thursday in Englewood, some riders complained that the CTA doesn't understand how the shutdown would affect their commute and their daily lives.

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CTA heads rarely ride