CTA Board Approves Ventra System; Claypool Says It Won't Incovenience The Poor

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 14, 2013 3:40PM

Chicago Transit Authority’s board of directors approved a series of fare hikes and the Ventra shared fare payment system at their meeting Wednesday. In the case of Ventra, CTA’s board did so despite some members struggling to understand the intricacies of how the system would work.

Ventra has come under criticism for the embedded fees in the program for CTA riders who purchase single-ride “L” fares. Riders who purchase disposable single-ride tickets will be charged the standard $2.25 rail fare, a 25-cent transfer fee (regardless of whether or not the rider uses the transfer) and a 50-cent “limited use media fee.” Critics of the program accuse CTA of penalizing the poor with these fees, to which CTA President Forrest Claypool took umbrage. Claypool and supporters of Ventra insist the embedded fees are targeted for tourists and riders who don’t rely on CTA as their primary means of transportation.

Claypool did his best to parse the fare increase after the meeting and insisted the Ventra system wouldn’t cost riders any extra, if they only bothered to use it.

“There is no $3 cash fare,’’ he said. “The $3 is if a person chooses a disposable, one-ride ticket. It has nothing to do with cash.’’

Claypool said riders who currently use disposable fare cards and single-ride passes can buy a Ventra card for $5, register it online or via a phone call, and add money to the card at rail stations, similar to buying a fare pass now.
CTA board Vice Chairman Jackie Grimshaw called Ventra “complicated” while board members Kevin Irvine and John Bouman expressed reservations over the system because of the appearance social service agencies that buy single-ride passes from the agency would pay more on paper for the new Ventra passes.

CTA’s Board also announced the cost of U-Passes for college students would increase to $1.07 a day and that current U-Passes would be phased out in favor of U-Passes tied to the Ventra system starting this fall. Claypool said the hike was tied to the expiration of the current U-Pass contract.