CTA Tattler

Will this fight continue even after service cuts? If an additional revenue source comes in after the cuts, say 6 months or a year. Are they going to go back to the old service system? or are they going to re-evaluate how to allocate the new funds?

just thinking about transit with an operating budget in the black...I know crazy, but it could give CTA a bit of a fresh start to think about some things.

Most of you tubbies should take up walking and get off you fat butts....

Thanks, Kevin, for finding that out.

And bite me, UR Fat!! (troll)

Maybe I'm just not reading this correctly, but I'm confused. Currently, a Chicago Card Plus set for unlimited rides can still be used for additional riders, it just bills the credit card linked to the CCP for each of those rides. Will this continue, or will using an unlimited ride card for a second rider cause the whole thing to revert to pay-per-ride?

MB, that hasn't been my experience. Occasionally, I've managed to catch a southbound Clark bus near Ridge only to have the driver announce the end of his run at Foster. (I really wish they'd make a point of announcing this as people board, but that's beside the current point.) The times I've boarded another Clark bus within the designated time (I've heard both 15 and 18 minutes), the CTA has consistently switched my card from unlimited monthly usage to pay per ride. (To their credit, each time I've alerted customer service by email to explain the situation, they've promptly switched it back.)

I remember stocking up on tokens in a similar manner almost 10 years ago to avoid a similar fare increase.

MB: I used my Chicago Card Plus (bought as a monthly pass) for my in-laws last month when they visited, and much to my dismay, it did indeed convert to a pay-per-use status. I wouldn't have known if my card hadn't been tied to an expired credit card. Because it was, the CTA emailed me for updated info.

Seems like it would be best if the CTA just took $5-$10 from your credit card to cover the passback, rather than covert the card to pay-per-use.

"Most of you tubbies should take up walking and get off you fat butts...."

So someone who lives in Skokie and works downtown should walk to and from work?

I've paid for extra riders with my monthly-pass chicago card several times in the past six months, and the card's never changed to pay-per-use. Like MB asks, the additional fares just get billed to my credit card.

i've paid for extra riders with my monthly pass as well and it doesn't revert to pay per use. it adds the additional (reduced) fares to the 75 dollar fee when your bill is due.

The policy is pretty clear:

http://www.chicago-card.com/ccplus/farechoices.aspx#passback

I have used my card with a 30 day pass in this manner several times and it has always worked this way.

I, too, have frequently paid for friend's rides using my pass. It adds a little pay-per-use money on top of your next $75 charge, as I recall.

call me old fashion, but this is why I haven't signed up for the CCP. I use my regular CC and refill at the stations. To me, giving the CTA my credit card info is telling them that I fully trust they'll charge my account correctly. I'm just not that confident they have their acts together yet.

I didn't pay for anyone else using my CCP, and they switched me over to pay-per-use for reasons I don't understand. I can't get them to switch me back either.

crash-dev's comments appeared in Tuesday's Tribune. I thought they may have been taken out of context, but it doesn't look that way. I wonder exactly what methodology you suggest the CTA use "to re-evaluate how to allocate the new funds," crash. It would be great for the CTA to have "an operating budget in the black," but not if the way to do it is to cut service. A "fresh start?" Sure, we could just eliminate the CTA completely and there would be no budget problems. But the goal of the CTA is not to be "in the black," it's to provide service to the community.

I have the program through work which takes pre-tax dollars to pay for a 30 day pass (currently $75) on the Chicago Card. I've had lots of problems and I'm about ready to cancel it. Every few months, I will be accused of a pass-back, allowing someone else to ride, when I haven't - this can occur when there is trouble at an el turnstile, and you have to keep swiping the card before it allows you to enter, or on a bus, where the driver tells you to swipe again.
Also, one card only lasted about 6 months - it gradually stopped working, and when I told CTA, they said I would have to pay $5 for a new one, but they would refund it if they test it and find the malfunction was not my fault. There was nothing wrong with the appearance of the card, and nothng that I did to make it malfunction, but there was never any word from the CTA about the test 'results'.
To sum up, the Chicago Card sucks!