CTA

CTA to Distribute 5,000 Free Ventra Cards from Its Popular Community Connection Bus

July 27, 2020

First-of-its-kind giveaway from sponsor Butcher Boy Cooking Oils will promote contactless payments

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today announced that it will host a series of community giveaway events to distribute 5,000 free Ventra cards from its Community Connection Bus. The giveaway is sponsored by Chicagoland-based Butcher Boy Cooking Oils.

“We thank Butcher Boy Cooking Oils for working with us to make this important, free Ventra Card distribution a reality,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “When these types of public-private partnerships result in resources the community can really use, it’s a win for CTA, the sponsoring company and our customers.”

The hard plastic Ventra card allows customers to load transit value and unlimited-ride passes for travel on the CTA. The cards enable contactless payment—a user simply taps the card onto a fare reader for a quick transaction. This is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as CTA continues to encourage contactless, touchless transactions, in keeping with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding healthy travel on public transit.

CTA will also be handing out its popular “Travel Healthy” kits, which feature a disposable cloth face mask, hand sanitizer and tips for healthy travel.

The first giveaway event will be held on Tuesday, July 28, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., in the Save-A-Lot grocery store parking lot at 7908 South Halsted Avenue in Chicago (in conjunction with City of Chicago’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team food distribution pop-up event at the same location). Future distribution dates and locations will be announced soon.

CTA will also make social media reminders to the public over the coming weeks on its social networking channels and at its website— transitchicago.com.

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