Foodie Rant - Properly Sauced? Try Properly Ripped Off.
Oprah-geddon: Winfrey To Quit Show In 2011
Daley Blames - Who Else? - The Media For Oprah-geddon
NYT Preps For Chicago Edition
Chicago Gets Googled
It looks like the CTA has passed a fare hike for 2009, but media outlets, while not saying exactly how much the hike will be, are reporting it's lower than the proposed 25-cent hike. Update: It seems the 25-cent hike will go into effect for per-ride fares, but the long term passes will have less than a 20 percent hike. Here's a rundown via Chicago Breaking News:
Starting in January, a transit card ride will cost $2, up from $1.75; a rail transit card will cost $2.25, up from $2; a rail Chicago Card will increase to $2.25 from $1.75; and a bus Chicago Card will rise to $2 from $1.75.Some CTA passes will be increased 15 percent, rather than the proposed 20 percent. A 30-day pass will be hiked to $86; a 7-day pass to $23; a 3-day pass to $14; and a 1-day pass to $5.75.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Depending on how they implement the hike, $0.25 increments are probably the most convenient way for people. I mean, a fare of $1.98 would be a pain in the . . . tuckas.
maybe they're getting rid of free transfers?
Looks like the "doomsday" rates we almost had earlier this year. So, it's the same fare increases we all were prepared for, without the service cuts.
The $0.50 increase for Chicago Card train riders is pretty steep. Glad I get the monthly pass with pre-tax money through work.
Is the $2 for a $20 preload incentive still there on the chicago cards?
Teira - According to the S-T, it's gone: "The 10 percent Chicago Card bonus will be gone."
Teira -- i think that's gone. at least it was when they initially reported that they would be increasing fares.
i'll admit that i'm pretty dense with things ... but it almost seems that there is no advantage to having the chicago card, other than ease of use, but that easily overridden by the fact that it sometimes takes several touches to get through the turnstile.
so what's the point of chicago card again?
It makes it easier for the city to track your movements?
Oh, and you can allegedly get it replaced without losing your money. Or so they claim.
The other point of the ChicagoCard is that they can centralize money collection (more of it in fewer places) and they get a float on your money when you put $20 on a card but don't use $20 immediately.
On balance the ChicagoCard is so much quicker and convenient that I will still use it though. The 10% influenced how much I put on the card at once, not whether I used the card.
As far as the Chicago Card goes, I'd use it just for the replacement factor. I lost mine last winter and someone else started using it before I could pick a new one up and get it canceled. Since mine is a ChicagoPlus, the CTA woman couldn't change the date of my paycheck takeout, but she gave me a 7 day pass to make up for the fact that another person had used it for a couple days. So hoo-ray for customer service.
Plus it's greener than multiple bus cards.
i still think i'm getting screwed here ... but maybe that's because i think the CTA heads are as dumb as advertised. it just seems that no matter how much money these guys have they always need more and we always end up paying more or are threatened with service cuts.
and i agree that it's greener than multiple fare cards, but if it's taking more green out of my wallet, i'll gladly save the fare cards and construct a hat out of them.
i love my monthly pass. do i want to take a bus two blocks when i'm carrying a ton of stuff? okay. do i want to ride the train three times in 4 hours? okay.
i use it with impunity.
Any word on what will happen with my beloved U-Pass? I'm assuming the cost will go up as well.
It was all of 9.5 months ago your elected officials told you the 0.25% sales tax increase would be all they needed for effective transit, which passed so easily Stroger added another 1% for no reason at all. Now the largest fare hike since the 1980's before the year is out? No city can nickel and dime your money away better than Chicago.
And now you will have a Chicago Democrat at the helm of all four levels of government! Can we take all your money? YES, WE CAN!