Results tagged “chicagocards”

Hear us now, believe us later, but if you don't want to end up with a crappy solution to a shitty problem, it might be a great time to contact your State Representatives and Senators and to tell them that you really, really do want to ride the CTA in the "ehh" manner you're used to, rather than the CTA-lite version that the CTA board just passed if they don't get more funds. Tony Coppoletta...

Nearly all of us agree that Frank Kruesi was a big DB that couldn't keep the CTA from being in a continuous state of CF always leaving everyone going WTF? And it was with great hope that Chicagoist saw Ron Huberman come on board with promises of administrative cuts and just not being Frank Kruesi. However, over at Time Out Chicago, our old pal, Scott Smith, posted that, yet again, the CTA is threatening fare...

Remember way back in January 2006 when the CTA raised their base rate from $1.75 to $2 a ride? Of course you do. Unless you're one of those people who never ride the CTA and use their car or bike to get everywhere, to which we say you're missing a vital, if dirty and malfunctioning, part of the city. Anyway. As you also might recall, there was a huge run on Chicago Cards at the eleventh hour, in order for people to avoid the extra 25¢ markup. A shortage soon occurred at stores and currency exchanges throughout Chicago. As a result, scores of people couldn't take advantage of the huge marketing ploy and ended up spending much more on their trips than was necessary.

Last year, Chicagoist reported on our experience with the CTA’s Go Lane buses. At the time, we said “it didn’t slow things down but it didn’t speed things up much either though that’s the CTA’s reasoning for adopting the technology in the first place.” Now that more Go Lane buses are in use and many CTA customers have adopted the Chicago Card thanks to a fare increase, Chicagoist wondered if that would change. Based on our experiences with the buses, we have to conclude that the Go Lane bus is like most of the CTA’s capital improvement projects: short on forethought, nice in theory, lousy in practice.

Remember in the beginning of the year when the CTA raised rates for those who paid with cash, but not for those who use the Chicago Card? It looks like everyone rushed out and bought Chicago Cards. No one wants to pay more when they don't have to, right? Well, now a bunch of grocery stores and currency exchanges are out of the cards, and the CTA is getting sued for not making the cards more available.

Have you ever sat in a tangle of tollbooth-induced gridlock, silently (or loudly) cursing the I-pass holders that whiz through the turnstyles with nary a wait and nary a care? Unless you have one of the CTA's Chicago Cards or Chicago Cards Plus, you may be resigned to a similar fate the next time you board a train or bus.