Ventra in Chicago… Hmm… It could work for the visitor…

One of the things that tend to happen when I travel is I get a local transit card.

Now, in the past Chicago had a lovely plastic fare card system that made some sense, but this seems to be have swept away with their new ticketing system called “Ventra”

Ventra Card – Note the MasterCard Debit Logo too.

The idea behind Ventura seems simple, with the option to pay by

• Cash (for buses)
• Disposable Single Ride Fare Card
• Disposable Day Ride Card
• Ventra card which can store passes and cash value
• Your own Contact-less Credit or Debit card

The Ventra card is actually a pre-paid debit card which attracts a $5 fee (which is refundable if the card is registered). The card can also be converted into a Pre-Paid Mastercard too (which isn’t available to non US residents as it requires an US Social Security Number).

Now, there are quite a few bugs in the Ventra system – some of which I ran into:

• Purchase of a Ventra card by Visa/Mastercard require the use of an US Zip Code. If your card isn’t registered in the USA, this could be… difficult.
• The process compared to the old farecard method is slow as heck (the machines aren’t that user friendly in my opinion).

Locals aren’t happy too, with various reports showing a very bumpy rollout, with the switch-over crawling at a pace (and by the end of March 2014, ChicagoCards become null and void – in addition those with farecards with value will have to get the value shifted over to Ventra as well) .

However, there are some good points for a visitor – load up the funds and go. Just be prepared to deal with very slow machines. And top up with cash.

… and register too if you want an extra $5 to spend. Makes that ride from the airport a bit less painful if have to pay the $5 from Chicago O’Hare to ride the L…