The Chicago Transit Authority has released what officials are calling a “targeted clarification” of its passenger carry-on policy ahead of the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, which brings an estimated 85,000 attendees to McCormick Place from March 27 to 29. The six-page document, titled “Supplemental Guidance on Costume-Adjacent Items and Oversized Personal Effects,” was distributed to all station managers Monday morning and addresses, among other things, foam swords, functional capes, “any headgear that prevents the wearer from seeing the fare gate,” and a category described only as “wings (all types).”

“We welcome C2E2 attendees and the vibrancy they bring to our system,” said CTA spokesperson Alicia Greer-Fontaine at a press briefing that was, perhaps inevitably, interrupted by a follow-up question about whether lightsabers count as weapons. “They do not. Unless they are metal. Or on fire. We felt the need to specify.”

The guidelines arrive at a particularly sensitive moment for the CTA, which just last week unveiled a sweeping new security plan that includes Cook County sheriff’s deputies on rail lines, high-barrier entry gates, and farecard inspection missions — all in response to a federal threat to withhold $50 million in transit funding. The new gates, which the agency spent months designing to prevent fare evasion, have an entry width of 22 inches. A standard suit of cosplay plate armor, measured shoulder to shoulder, ranges from 26 to 34 inches.

“We identified the clearance issue during a tabletop exercise in February,” said Deputy Director of Operations Frank Mossbacher, using a phrase more commonly associated with disaster preparedness than comic book conventions. “The scenario was: it’s Saturday morning, the Green Line to McCormick is running three-minute headways, and a group of twelve Warhammer 40K Space Marines approaches the Cermak-McCormick Place station in full regalia. The simulation did not go well.”

The CTA’s solution is a three-tier classification system for costume items. Tier 1 (“Unrestricted”) includes face paint, non-obstructive hats, and “capes that do not extend below the knee.” Tier 2 (“Conditional”) covers foam weapons under four feet, wings with a folded wingspan under 30 inches, and “staffs, wands, or scepters that can be held vertically without contacting overhead infrastructure.” Tier 3 (“Restricted — Recommend Rideshare”) includes any full-body armor, props wider than the rider, and a catch-all for “items that, in the judgment of the station manager, would cause a reasonable commuter to do a double-take lasting more than three seconds.”

C2E2 organizers said they appreciate the CTA’s effort but noted the timing was “somewhat late,” given that many attendees have been planning and constructing costumes for months. “We have people who started building Gundam suits in October,” said convention programming director Yusuf Bey. “You can’t just tell a Gundam to take a Lyft. Do you know what a Lyft driver charges for a seven-foot mech? We checked. It’s $114 from Fullerton.”

The cosplay community has responded with characteristic creativity. A Reddit thread on r/chicago titled “CTA vs. C2E2: The Crossover Nobody Asked For” had accumulated over 800 comments by Monday evening, including several users proposing a “Cosplay Carpool Convoy” from the North Side and one person who claimed to have already contacted Metra about chartering a dedicated “Nerd Train” on the Metra Electric line. Metra did not respond to a request for comment but has historically shown no enthusiasm for themed service.

For their part, the newly deployed sheriff’s deputies on the CTA expressed measured confidence. “I’ve been briefed on the situation,” said Deputy Ramon Iglesias, stationed at the Roosevelt stop. “Honestly, after three weeks on the Red Line at 2 AM, a guy in a Deadpool costume is going to feel like a vacation.” He paused. “As long as the swords are foam. They did say the swords are foam, right?”