Chicago's New Smart Cards Make Commuting Even Harder

"Stop. Stop. Go."

The error message blinks back at commuters from electronic turnstiles in the Chicago subway stations. Many need to swipe several times before the city's new transit card even registers. And that's only one of the challenges the system currently faces

Ventra, the new electronic open-fare system for Chicago’s public transit system, launched August 2013. The Ventra smart cards are slated to replace the city’s old magnetic strip fare card system before the new year

In 2011, the Chicago Transit Board approved a $454 million contract to build a new open-standards fare system, the largest automated fare collection contract ever inked in North America. The result, Ventra, is a large component of the new system mandated by the Illinois General Assembly for the three main transportation systems in Chicago — Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace — by 2015 Read more...