Today the Chicago Transit Board authorized an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Pace creating a new joint 7-Day pass that can be used to travel on the CTA and Pace. Pace provides suburban bus service, with most of its routes providing convenient connections to CTA and Metra.
CTA’s 30-Day passes and stored value cards – Chicago Card, Chicago Card Plus and magnetic strip transit cards – may still be used on Pace buses. Pace has announced it no longer will accept CTA’s 1-Day, 3-Day, 7-Day and U-Pass fare media on its system effective January 1, 2009.
The joint 7-Day pass was created to accommodate those riders who use both CTA and Pace to make their connections from one to the other seamlessly. Currently, nearly 87,500 CTA 7-day passes are sold in a week. Of the passes sold, four to five percent of the total rides used occur on Pace buses.
The joint CTA/Pace 7-Day pass will cost $5 more than the price of a regular CTA 7-Day pass and is available beginning January 1. Pace will receive $5 from each pass sold less an administrative fee, which is a change from the old system that enabled the RTA to reimburse Pace for rides taken on its system using CTA fare media.
The new passes may be purchased wherever CTA monthly passes are sold – with the exception of visitor pass machines. The new pass offers the same unlimited rides benefits of CTA’s 7-Day pass.
“This new unlimited ride 7-Day pass continues the convenient and affordable connections between the CTA and Pace that customers presently enjoy,” said CTA President Ron Huberman. “With public transportation becoming an increasingly popular option for commuters, it’s important for Chicago’s transit services to be as accessible and efficient as possible.”