CTA to PACE transfer ?

[Amtrak41]

I am having trouble finding an answer from CTA and PACE fare literature, but does PACE charge a 25c transfer fee from CTA (assume Chicago Card), or charge an entirely separate fare ?

[trigger]

If you pay with a Transit Card or a Chicago Card, a CTA to Pace transfer works exactly like a CTA to CTA transfer: 25 cents is deducted for the first transfer and the second transfer is free. The transfers must be used within 2 hours of paying the original fare.

The converse is also true. If you pay your Pace fare with a Transit Card or Chicago Card, you can transfer to a CTA bus or train (at ANY train station!) for just 25 cents for the first transfer or free for the second transfer.

If paying cash on a Pace bus, you can deposit an extra 25 cents in the fare box and get a Pace transfer card that is good for two additional rides on Pace only within two hours. The Pace transfer card is not valid on CTA. The Pace transfer card will be discontinued at the end of 2013.

Edited to add: There are a few premium fare Pace bus routes (like the Great America Express) where you must also add the difference between the regular Pace fare and the premium fare when transferring.

[Amtrak41]

This is the confusing part: I have a printout in front of me of "Year 2011 Fares' from PACE. It says under TRANSFER POLICY "Effective January 1, 2006, CTA will no longer accept a PACE transfer for Fare Payement.

So taken literally, it means no 25 cents transfer at all from CTA to PACE, or perhaps they meant only paper transfer, putting together with what you say. They don't say a thing about vice-versa.

Then there's the 25 cents lower fare on PACE than CTA Bus, and 50 cents lower on CTA Rail I was thinking CTA would step it up plus the 25 cent transfer charge. So can you ride the "L" for for just $2.00 ($1.75 + 0.25) if you first flashed your Chicagocard on PACE ?

[artthouwill]

This is the confusing part: I have a printout in front of me of "Year 2011 Fares' from PACE. It says under TRANSFER POLICY "Effective January 1, 2006, CTA will no longer accept a PACE transfer for Fare Payement.

So taken literally, it means no 25 cents transfer at all from CTA to PACE, or perhaps they meant only paper transfer, putting together with what you say. They don't say a thing about vice-versa.

Then there's the 25 cents lower fare on PACE than CTA Bus, and 50 cents lower on CTA Rail I was thinking CTA would step it up plus the 25 cent transfer charge. So can you ride the "L" for for just $2.00 ($1.75 + 0.25) if you first flashed your Chicagocard on PACE ?

1. It says CTA will no longer accept a PACE transfer. It literally means that if you purchase a PACE transfer on a PACE bus, you cannot use that transfer on a CTA bus.

2. I covered this scenario in the Fare Game thread. People actually do this purposely (as I have done) to save money. Itt will cost a ride, but if it was an unused ride (you only need to transfer once and not twice), it doesn't make a difference.

[trigger]

That was when CTA stopped issuing paper transfers (actually they were magnetic strip cards). Pace continued issuing them. The CTA stopped accepting any paper transfers, but Pace continued accepting them on their own bus routes.

But if you use a Transit Card or Chicago Card, you can transfer back and forth between Pace and CTA as if they were the same. The same will be true with the forthcoming Ventra card if you pay-per-ride.

No step up when transferring from Pace to CTA. Just the usual 25 cents for the first transfer or free for the second transfer. Your calculation is correct and I emphasize that it applies at ALL CTA train stations. (If you can figure out why I am emphasizing this, please do not post the reason. Let's keep it quiet.)

[Amtrak41]

Does the CTA Customer Service office replace expired magnetic fare cards that have expired when they have value ?

Is there anyway they can instead load the value on my Chicagocard ?

(I am a tourist, so don't get there often enough to be prompt with these things)

[Busjack]

Does the CTA Customer Service office replace expired magnetic fare cards that have expired when they have value ?

Is there anyway they can instead load the value on my Chicagocard ?

(I am a tourist, so don't get there often enough to be prompt with these things)

1. trigger and art are correct.

2. On this one the answer has explicitly been NO. If you put a fare card in the machine within a month or so before it expires, it transfers the balance to a new card. However, CTA made it quite clear that it does not refund an expired card. If you put an expired card into the machine, it eats it without giving you a new one. This was publicized when the fare cards first came out (about 1997?).

[trigger]

Yeah, if you have an expired magnetic strip card, you might as well just throw it away. You won't get anything from the CTA for it.

And another warning: Don't put more than necessary on your Chicago Card now, regardless of when it expires. Keep just enough money on it to get you through to September 9. Try to spend down any money you already have on the card.

If you had a registered Chicago Card and the CTA had your email on file, you should have gotten a notice about exchanging your CC for a Ventra card. I assume you didn't.

For unregistered Chicago Card holders, they say there will be opportunities to exchange your CC for a Ventra card staring in September. They have given absolutely no information on how this will be done. If you are not in town frequently, these opportunities may or may not be convenient for you.

Ventra cards go on sale to the general public on September 9. You will not be able to reload your CC after October and your CC will stop working after an unspecified date in late December.

[Busjack]

...

And another warning: Don't put more than necessary on your Chicago Card now, regardless of when it expires. Keep just enough money on it to get you through to September 9. Try to spend down any money you already have on the card.....

The one nuance in the Press Release is while it says to spend down balances on existing cards, it says on the bottom: "Balance transfers of stored value on remaining valid magnetic stripe cards can be transferred to Ventra through March 2014." Doesn't say how, though. Similarly, it says for September, "New Chicago Cards will no longer be issued; balances can still be spent or transferred to Ventra." Again, doesn't say how.

I suppose, though, that if the preexisting cards haven't reached their expiration dates, CTA isn't allowed to forfeit the balances.

Back to the main topic, I don't think Pace has yet publicized that it won't issue transfers with cash fares, as stated in the Press Release, and hence will become like CTA in that regard.

[Busjack]

....

2. I covered this scenario in the Fare Game thread. People actually do this purposely (as I have done) to save money. Itt will cost a ride, but if it was an unused ride (you only need to transfer once and not twice), it doesn't make a difference.

In effect Emanuel was endorsing this by turning over several CTA routes to Pace as part of the Crowd Reduction Plan. For instance, your only choice now on Milwaukee north of Jefferson Park is to wait for Pace 270, so there isn't an additional transfer; same for 349 on Western south of 79th. One has to crapshoot (or consult the timetable) on routes such as 95W/381 or 63W/386 where there is now alternating service.

[trigger]

Amtrak41, there is a new thread here where a member says he had success taking expired Transit Cards to CTA headquarters. I guess it never hurts to ask.

[Amtrak41]

Well I be in Chicago Aug 31 through Sep 4th, so too soon to upgrade to Ventra. I have no value on my Chicagocard now, and an expired fare card for $2.25. The only reason I got a farecard is because when I went to Clinton Street to exchange my old Chicagocard, the geniuses put the balance on a maganetic card, not the new Chicagocard they gave me simultaneously.

It will be very tedious now to figure out my exact fare calculations as I navigate CTA and PACE for those few days, see when PACE will charge me a transfer fee rather than a new fare when I make a quick round trip.

Then I have to head to Clinton Street on the Tuesday after Labor Day to beg for my $2.25 back, and make sure I leave nothing on my Chicagocard, although it does not expire until 4/1/2015.

Now with $10 one day passes, they are making life very difficult for tourists, along with our 14% hotel tax. .

[Busjack]

From what you and jtrosario say, the only way you could get it back is to argue with the geniuses at Clinton St. about what they previously did, but I really doubt that your time spent will be worth the $2.25. Theoretically you would blow it on the trip to there.

The other point is that while your Chicago Card doesn't expire until 2015, it won't be any good starting in late 2013. So, no sense loading too much on it.

The only real issue with a Pace transfer is whether they will let you reverse ride on it. My philosophy is that if one is not transferring to CTA, just pay the $1.75 cash fare. The other question is whether the 7 day CTA/Pace pass (not the 7 day CTA only one) is worth it. With the deals associated with the Red Line project, maybe you can get a 5 day CTA/Pace pass.

[Amtrak41]

Where would I find out about the 5 day CTA/PACE pass ? All I see is the 7 day.

[Busjack]

Where would I find out about the 5 day CTA/PACE pass ? All I see is the 7 day.

That was discussed in the Red Line project forum, but the only official references is Ordinance 013-030. However, that ordinance refers to it being prepacked with a 10 ride Metra ticket, so I guess that doesn't do you any good.

In the previous discussion, I didn't think it was so limited, but I might have been wrong.

[trigger]

"The only real issue with a Pace transfer is whether they will let you reverse ride on it. My philosophy is that if one is not transferring to CTA, just pay the $1.75 cash fare."

There is no issue with that. The Pace transfer is good for reverse riding. It is a magnetic-stripe card. You just put it in the card reader in the fare box. There is no judgment called for, no arguing with the driver. Either the fare box accepts it or it doesn't. There is no reason to pay two separate Pace fares if you can get a transfer for just a quarter. The only issue is whether you'll be using it within two hours.

[Amtrak41]

Thanks guys,

This is what I plan and what I think it will cost:

Day 1:

BROWN Diversey-Kimball 11:31am $2.25

81 to Jeff Park 12:01pm $0.25

68 to Norwood Park 12:32pm $0.00

423 to from Harlem/Devon 2:20pm $1.75 ($4.25)

Day 2

250 from Dempster/Waukegan 10:47am $1.75

250 from Lee Road 1:10pm $1.75

210 from Waukegan to Oakton 2:14pm $0.25

YELLOW, etc to Loop 3:00pm $0.00 ($3.75)

[Busjack]

Thanks guys,

This is what I plan and what I think it will cost:

Day 1:

BROWN Diversey-Kimball 11:31am $2.25

81 to Jeff Park 12:01pm $0.25

68 to Norwood Park 12:32pm $0.00

423 to from Harlem/Devon 2:20pm $1.75 ($4.25)

Day 2

250 from Dempster/Waukegan 10:47am $1.75

250 from Lee Road 1:10pm $1.75

210 from Waukegan to Oakton 2:14pm $0.25

YELLOW, etc to Loop 3:00pm $0.00 ($3.75)

Unless you have intermediate stops planned, this is too complicated. Probably the best thing is to use Google Maps/Transit. For instance, it doesn't pay to transfer between 250 and 210 if your real destination is downtown, just take 250 to Davis/Purple Line, with a cross platform transfer to the Red Line if it is not a Loop train (which you would have to make from the Yellow Line, anyway).

Also, if your ultimate destination is Harlem-Devon, 68 or 88 from Jefferson Park should do the job. I take it you are really going north on Harlem, but, again, something like 226 or 270 from Jefferson Park, 250 from Davis or 422 from Linden would make more sense.

If your aim is to reduce the number of transfers, another alternative for the first trip is76-Diversey to Logan Square and then Blue Line to Harlem, to transfer to 423.

[Amtrak41]

There is a method for the madness. I have it planned out.

The reason for Norwood Park is stopover at Chicagoland Hobbies and lunch at Norwood Family Restaurant

Motel is at Waukegan & Dempster

250 out and back to Des Plaines for Des Plaines Hobbies and Silver Stallion Restaurant

Stop at Morton Grove between the 250 & 210 is to get my luggage out of the motel.

Then I want to go to Demptser/Oakton to check it out.

I want a Purple Line Express to Wells/Washington, which has an elevator. I do not like riding Red Line trains through some of those north side neighborhoods with luggage.