2/16/07
Chicago Transit Authority Chicago Card customers who claim to have paid extra money in fares in January 2006 due to a short supply of Chicago Cards at retail CTA sales outlets may qualify for refunds. The CTA recently settled a class action lawsuit alleging there were not enough Chicago Cards available to meet demand beginning January 1, 2006, the day a CTA cash fare increase went into effect. The CTA denies all liability in this case.
The class action lawsuit was settled January 29 in the Circuit Court of Cook County. In accordance with the terms of the settlement, CTA will credit up to a total of $199,400 to Chicago Card customers who claim they paid higher fares because they could not purchase a Chicago Card between December 15, 2005 and January 31, 2006.
To obtain a refund, customers who claim they could not purchase a Chicago Card must submit a claim form to have the refunded value credited to their Chicago Card. Customers will be required to report how much additional money they paid in fares; dates and locations where they attempted to purchase the farecard; and the approximate number of attempts made to purchase the farecard at each location.
CTA settled the case to avoid a long and costly litigation process. Prior to the $5 Chicago Cards fee waiver, CTA encouraged retailers to increase their supply of Chicago Cards to meet the anticipated demand. Retailers ran out of the cards quickly in the first few days of the cash fare increase due to a huge last minute surge in demand in late December. When retailers realized the demand was larger than their supply, they informed the CTA and ordered more cards.
Claims must be submitted to Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, LLC by May 29, 2007.
The information about the settlement and the claim form are available on the CTA web site at Full Notice and Claim Form (PDF), or can be obtained by calling Edelman at 312-917-4504 or by writing to: Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, LLC, 120 S. LaSalle, Suite #1800, Chicago, IL 60603.
Claims can only be made by Chicago Card customers. If customers had a Chicago Card during the noted time period and have since upgraded to Chicago Card Plus, the CTA will credit the current Chicago Card Plus account.
# # #Chancellor v. CTA (PDF)