CTA/Ventra & Current Cards

[SarahZ]

Some news from the CTA this morning:

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/default.aspx?Month&Year&Category=2&ArticleId=3205

They will be holding events to transfer balances from the magnetic stripe cards, Pace cards, and the Chicago Card onto Ventra cards with no fee. Total balances of all cards brought in must equal $5. This is a great way to take all of those magnetic cards that might have $1-2 left on them and get some value for them.

The magnetic stripe cards are no longer sold online, and they will not be sold at transit stations as of October 7, but they can be used until December 15.

 

[trainman74]

"On September 9, Ventra will be available to all CTA and Pace customers, beginning a transition to replace a nearly 20-year-old fare-payment system..."

Guess I'm old -- riding the CTA was still a cash-and/or-token operation when I started college, complete with such delights as the "pay on train" hours, but they started transitioning to the magnetic-stripe cards during those four years.

 

[SarahZ]

Whenever I think "20 years ago", my mind goes to the 1980s, not 1990s. I keep forgetting how old I am.

I, too, remember using tokens very briefly while in college. I might still have a token or two in one of my "nostalgia" boxes. You can purchase them from the CTA website as pendants, cuff links, and such.

I know they were still using them in 1995 because that's when While You Were Sleeping was released. The main character, played by Sandra Bullock, worked in a token booth.

 

[CHamilton]

Latest Ventra glitch: Some federal ID cards allow free rides

Catherine Garypie, a federal employee, pulled a card out of her purse and swiped it recently at a Jackson Blue Line turnstile. The Ventra fare reader turned green — Go, it read. But she didn't.
Garypie was demonstrating how, for the third time in three trips, her federal ID card — which isn't linked to any accounts — tricked the Ventra system into thinking she'd paid a fare....

The federal ID card appeared to admit passage about 1 in every 10 swipes.

 

[me_little_me]

Just last week we finally got my Reduced Fare Cards. We live in NC but went to Chicago for a week. Moe than a month previously I had mailed our applications that said it would take 3-4 weeks. When I called after a month, they said it would be mailed out the next day - too late for us to receive it before leaving. However, after many calls, I got them to redirect the cards to their office and picked them up there. Now I am ready for a future trip (Atlanta, NYC and Chicago Ventra cards in hand!)

In the future, remind myself to apply 2 months ahead.

 

[CHamilton]

Chicago's New Smart Cards Make Commuting Even Harder

Ventra's initial rollout has not been a smooth implementation. Riders complain of consistent problems, from overcharges to faulty card readers....
Since its launch, Ventra has become an infamous inside joke for Chicagoans. Wait times for Ventra’s customer service call centers are a well-known metric. ...
Ventra contracts day-to-day fare payment operations to Cubic Transportation Systems, a transit tech company based in San Diego. In theory, the outsourcing helps CTA focus on other goals....
Moini believes the problem is not the system itself, but the deployment of the new system.
Cubic might also be to blame.
Cubic is one of the largest mass transit tech companies in the world. It operates in 60 countries worldwide and is behind some of the biggest transit systems, including the London Oyster and San Francisco's BART. However, even in its past, Cubic has experienced its share of glitches, from hidden fees to double-charging customers.
CTA has recognized said issues and has reassured the Chicago public it will not pay Cubic the $454 million until systems are running smoothly.

 

[NW cannonball]

Cubic systems are also in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Edmonton, Vancouver, Rhein-Main, south Sweden, Denmark, London, LA, Miami, Minneapolis and many many more.

There have been roll-out problems with several of their installations (I was a small shareholder for a time and used to follow closely)

I don't know, but suspect, that part of the problem is in integrating several regional systems into a single fare-collection system.

PS - the name Ventra annoys me because it sounds like a form of the Latin venter meaning "belly, gut, abdomen" -- few Americans are likely to notice this :unsure:

 

[MikefromCrete]

Just last week we finally got my Reduced Fare Cards. We live in NC but went to Chicago for a week. Moe than a month previously I had mailed our applications that said it would take 3-4 weeks. When I called after a month, they said it would be mailed out the next day - too late for us to receive it before leaving. However, after many calls, I got them to redirect the cards to their office and picked them up there. Now I am ready for a future trip (Atlanta, NYC and Chicago Ventra cards in hand!)

In the future, remind myself to apply 2 months ahead.

I was under the impression that the RTA reduced fare cards were only for residents of the six-county RTA service area. I guess I was wrong.

 

[AlanB]

Just last week we finally got my Reduced Fare Cards. We live in NC but went to Chicago for a week. Moe than a month previously I had mailed our applications that said it would take 3-4 weeks. When I called after a month, they said it would be mailed out the next day - too late for us to receive it before leaving. However, after many calls, I got them to redirect the cards to their office and picked them up there. Now I am ready for a future trip (Atlanta, NYC and Chicago Ventra cards in hand!)

In the future, remind myself to apply 2 months ahead.

I was under the impression that the RTA reduced fare cards were only for residents of the six-county RTA service area. I guess I was wrong.

No, definitely not. My mom living in PA has one. She had the old one too, and finally just got her Ventra about 4 weeks after we held the AU Gathering in Chicago. So she used her old card.