| Location | Chicago |
|---|---|
| Technology | Smart Card |
| Manager | RFID |
| Currency | USD |
| Stored-value | Pay-Per-Ride |
| Validity | Chicago Transit Authority |
| Pace Suburban Bus | |
| Variants | Chicago Card Plus |
| Website | www.chicago-card.com |
The Chicago Card and the Chicago Card Plus are contactless smart cards used by riders of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Pace to electronically pay for bus and train fares in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA and the surrounding suburbs.
The blue Chicago Card is a stored value card. Users add value to the card at CTA vending machines or at select retail locations, and turnstiles or fareboxes deduct value from the card. Users usually register cards with CTA and can receive a replacement in the event of theft, loss, or damage to the card.
The blue-and-gold Chicago Card Plus is an account-based card. Users link the card to either a credit card, debit card, or employer-provided transit benefit program. The cards may be set up as monthly passes or on a pay-per-use basis. The account reloads from the linked source either when the monthly pass expires or when a user-defined threshold is passed as a pay-per-use card. Because of this direct link to personal accounts, all Chicago Card Pluses are registered to users.
Both cards can be obtained for free from CTA's headquarters and website. Chicago Cards can also be obtained at retail outlets throughout Chicago.
Contents |
CTA's Automated Fare Collection (AFC) system was installed in 1997 by Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc., the largest provider of AFC systems in the USA. The AFC system replaced the CTA's tokens with magnetic-stripe stored-value cards printed on plastic or paper. All fare collection and payment equipment was designed to be retrofitted at a later date with smart card readers, a technology that was on the horizon. A small pilot program ("Chicago Gold") for reduced-fare disabled riders in 1999 led to a contract with Cubic to install smart card readers universally in 2000. In August 2000, a more extensive "Chicago Card" pilot program distributed stored-value smart cards to volunteer participants. The pilot program was expanded system-wide in November 2002. The Chicago Card Plus, an account-based card linked to a user's credit or debit card account, debuted in January 2004. "Go Lane" card readers were installed in the buses, starting in 2005, allowing Chicago Card users to bypass the line of passengers using the farebox; although to this day, only one payment can be accepted at a time, eliminating this possible efficiency.
In February 2007, CTA announced that it had settled a class action lawsuit alleging there were not enough Chicago Cards available to meet demand on January 1, 2006, when the cash fare increase went into effect, but Chicago Card users were charged the old fares.[1]
Benefits of the Chicago Card and the Chicago Card Plus include the following:
In addition to the blue card, CTA also offers transit cards to students in both grammar schools and high schools. The passes have "STUDENT RIDING PERMIT", the year that the card is active, and the card's expiration date printed on them. The cards can appear in a variety of colors including pink, blue, and yellow. Student Passes can be bought at many schools and allow students to pay $0.85 instead of the standard $2.25 fare. Disadvantages include the possibility that presentation of the passenger's student ID may be required in order for the pass to be honored and that the card is only valid on school days when school is in session (Monday through Friday, from 5:30 A.M. to 8:00 P.M., excluding holidays such as Thanksgiving Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, and the two week winter break period including Christmas Day and New Years).
The CTA has announced a project to replace the Chicago Card and other fare media with contact-less credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards, issued by a bank, rather than the CTA.[4] There are also reports that the Regional Transportation Authority is planning to require that Pace and Metra adopt that system.[5]