Convention Pass Encourages Use of Public Transit
The Chicago Transit Board today approved an experimental pass designed to encourage the use of CTA as a means to travel around the City while attending conferences and trade shows at McCormick Place.
CTA will partner with individual conventions and events to distribute the pass – which will be known as the C-Pass (Convention Pass). The pass will provide unlimited rides throughout the length of the convention for all attendees of conferences.
"The City of Chicago attracts more than 11 million visitors each year who are attending conventions and conferences," said CTA President Richard L. Rodriquez. "The pass makes it easy for convention goers to travel around the City and helps the CTA increase ridership and revenues for the agency. In addition, it will help attendees reduce the cost of travel as CTA trains and buses are an economical option when compared to taxis in the city and the additional tax recently added."
The pass designed specifically for conventioneers builds on CTA’s successful U-Pass and Visitors’ programs and introduces the benefits of using CTA to a group that may not be familiar with CTA.
CTA will sell passes to the convention/event organizers prior to their arrival in Chicago. The organizers will then distribute the passes to their attendees in their convention package. The pass would be valid one day prior through one day after the convention and can be customized with event specific information on the front. The cost of the pass will be dependent upon the length of the convention or event beginning at $3 per person/per day.
The C-Pass will begin as an experiment to allow CTA to evaluate the pass and make adjustments based upon feedback and CTA analysis.
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