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More than 200 people lined up at the Jefferson Park branch library to make the switch Thursday. A few elderly customers said they merely waited until CTA came to them, because the trip to CTA headquarters in the West Loop was too much.
CTA officials said 86 percent of its fares are now paid with a Ventra card, and the agency is pushing the last of its riders to make the switch to Ventra. Pace riders have been slower to make the change, with about 60 percent of the suburban bus agency's fares paid with Ventra cards.
RTA Chairman John Gates said he wants the agency to concentrate on what he considers doable -- and said his priority remains finding new money for capital repairs and rehabilitation.
The polar vortex has blown a hole in the CTA and Pace budgets, but neither agency is pushing the panic button yet.
When Ventra was first unveiled in September, there were massive teething problems.
Getting around the city can be difficult due to the traffic, winding roads and constant construction. Let go of the stress and take advantage of the many different options for public transportation in Chicago.
The incident happened about 3:45 p.m. outside Loyola University Medical Center when a red Nissan Sentra traveling southbound on 1st Avenue veered into the northbound lane and struck a Pace bus carrying five passengers.
An Oak Forest man was killed and three other people were hurt in a head-on crash involving a Pace bus Wednesday morning in southwest suburban Romeoville.
CTA is a lot happier now with the Ventra farecard than it was even a month ago. But CTA President Forrest Claypool said Wednesday that the final phase-out of old fare cards is at least two months off.
Illinois State Police said the bus was driving on the left shoulder of the northbound lanes of the Stevenson, when it crashed with two other vehicles near Harlem Avenue.
Amalgamated Transit Union Division 308 President Robert Kelly said the employees he represents are getting verbal abuse daily.
The agreement kept intact the historic division of the supposedly discretionary funds: 98 percent to the CTA, 2 percent to Pace, while essentially forgiving a $56 million loan to the CTA that CTA has characterized as a grant and offering Metra $2 million for capital projects.
Pace is the first of the area's transit systems to unveil a proposed 2014 budget, and it holds the line on most fares while promising additional service.
Pace employees will be staged at 14 transit stations in the city during the next two weeks in an effort to inform customers about fare policy changes.
On Monday, Ventra cards will begin replacing the familiar plastic and paper fare cards with magnetic stripes, which CTA and Pace customers have been using for years.
Gov. Pat Quinn has appointed former U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald and former CTA Board chair Carole Brown to a panel tasked with recommending reforms for the Chicago area's public transit agencies, in the wake of patronage allegations at Metra.
A government watchdog group said Wednesday that the resignations of two Regional Transportation Authority board members this week pointed to larger, troubling issues for the Chicago area's transit agencies.
Pace is looking to expand its popular Call-n-Ride program.
The Ventra card allows riders to use a single card for CTA and Pace transportation, according to a CTA release.
Democratic candidate for governor Bill Daley said the Regional Transportation Authority – which oversees the finances of CTA, Pace and Metra – has reached the end of the line, and should be eliminated.
CTA Ventra payment card holders who use the card's controversial debit features won't be charged for talking to public transit customer service operators or using the cards for cash ATM withdrawals under new fee rollbacks revealed Thursday.
More shoulder-riding Pace buses begin to roam I-55 beginning Monday. WBBM's Bob Roberts says an even bigger expansion may be in the works.
One of the hassles of riding the bus is the dash to get to the corner, several blocks away, to catch it.
The crash involved a van or minibus that crashed into a tree.
A Pace bus traveling south swerved to avoid a pedestrian and crashed into a light pole in the 4600 block of South Halsted Street.
Josh Jacobs pleaded no contest Thursday to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage charges; the NFL said it is reviewing the case under its personal conduct policy and Jacobs remains on the commissioner's exempt list.
A federal judge denied a motion to block the start of Illinois' medical aid in dying law from taking effect this weekend from a lawsuit filed by disability right advocates.
Police are searching for a group wanted for damaging multiple cars in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood early Thursday morning.
Matt O'Shea, who has been the alderman of Chicago's 19th Ward for the last 16 years, is the latest to announce he is giving up his Chicago City Council seat after this term.
The Chicago Department of Public Health is warning commuters of a potential measures exposure at Union Station last month.
Matt O'Shea, who has been the alderman of Chicago's 19th Ward for the last 16 years, is the latest to announce he is giving up his Chicago City Council seat after this term.
The Supreme Court said Missouri must use a 2022 congressional map — not a new congressional map that favors Republicans — in the 2026 midterm elections.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker excoriated the Republican midterm convention in Dallas at a Democrats' event in Texas Tuesday, calling it "a clown show" focused on President Trump while Americans are hurting.
A coalition of advocacy groups and a Democratic-led city filed a preemptive lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from deploying armed ICE agents to polling sites ahead of the midterm elections.
Illinois' legislature will once again soon find itself without a legislative inspector general. Michael McCuskey will resign that watchdog post amid criticism about his ability to handle investigations.
Nicor customers will get a break on their bills this fall after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Roul reached an agreement with the utility to cut $140 million from its requested rate hike.
Drivers in Chicago and beyond were paying the highest gas prices ever recorded for the Labor Day holiday as millions of Americans were making their way home on Monday.
Around 115 million domestic and international tourists visited Illinois last year, pushing visitor spending past $50 billion for the first time and generating more than $88 billion in total economic impact.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a lawsuit Thursday against ABC Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric Inc., alleging deceptive business practices.
Cook County homeowners are again facing a sharper increase in property taxes this year than businesses, the Office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced Monday.
Cardinal Blase Cupich and a group of Catholic nuns have joined a federal lawsuit challenging Illinois' Medical Aid in Dying law, which is set to take effect in just over a week.
Flies have been everywhere this summer in the Chicago area, and some of them bite. But why is this happening?
Prime Healthcare is drawing criticism after announcing it will stop obstetrics services at three Chicago-area hospitals.
The Chicago Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced two human cases and one death from the West Nile virus in the city this year, and one of those two people has died.
The Jackson Chance Foundation supports the lives of families with babies in the NICU by removing the financial burden of finding parking near hospitals.
Plans for a new Chicago White Sox stadium in the South Loop have residents near the existing ballpark in Bridgeport concerned, not just because the team might be leaving, but also what might be coming nearby.
A new report from the University of Illinois Chicago said federal immigration enforcement led to $1.26 billion in unspent money at retail establishments and restaurants in Cook County.
Around 115 million domestic and international tourists visited Illinois last year, pushing visitor spending past $50 billion for the first time and generating more than $88 billion in total economic impact.
A new Whole Foods Market is coming to Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.
More than 100 Black-owned businesses were showcased at Soldier Field Sunday for Black on the Block.
The stage was set and the air was humid as rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, took the stage for the first of two Chicago concerts at Soldier Field Thursday night.
James Fulton Engstrom, now a healthy teenager, was born without a pulse in 2010 — and his survival is the miracle the Catholic Church credited to Fulton Sheen's intercession, clearing the way for beatification.
The Met's decision to highlight the work by designer John Galliano sparked widespread controversy due to his history of antisemitic and racist comments.
The Edgewater Music Festival was under way this weekend on Chicago's north lakefront.
People around the world, including Chicago, continued to gather Wednesday to pay tribute to the late Dolly Parton.
Mostly cloudy and mild Thursday with highs in the 70s.
One Tail at a Time is looking for foster homes.
CBS News presents "Daughters of 9/11," here's a look inside the powerful stories of the women who lost loved ones 25 years ago.
The Rock Run Collection development is near I-80 and I-55.
A new era is beginning in Evanston, Illinois, as the Northwestern Wildcats football team prepares to move into the new Ryan Field in just under a month.
A 15-year-old boy is charged with multiple felonies for an April shooting that killed a Hyde Park Academy student and hurt a 16-year-old girl.
A 16-year-old boy died after being found shot in Grant Park's skate park in the South Loop Wednesday night, Chicago police said.
A federal judge denied a motion to block the start of Illinois' medical aid in dying law from taking effect this weekend from a lawsuit filed by disability right advocates.
Police are searching for a group wanted for damaging multiple cars in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood early Thursday morning.
Matt O'Shea, who has been the alderman of Chicago's 19th Ward for the last 16 years, is the latest to announce he is giving up his Chicago City Council seat after this term.
Several lawsuits are challenging Illinois' medical aid in dying law that is set to take effect on Sept. 12, including one in federal court arguing the law discriminates against people with disabilities.
Back in 2023, ISP got a $10 million grant from the Illinois Secretary of State's Illinois Vehicle Hijacking and Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention and Insurance Verification Council.
Two years before dozens of decomposing bodies were found inside the South Chicago Chapel funeral home, police in nearby Evergreen Park found two bodies in the owners' minivan outside their home.
Hundreds of people are suing the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, where they say they were sexually abused by staff. For the first time, survivors detailed their experience exclusively to CBS News Chicago.
Why has the family that runs South Chicago Chapel, where 56 decomposing bodies were found this month, never faced criminal charges, despite a history of mishandling human remains?
Josh Jacobs pleaded no contest Thursday to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage charges; the NFL said it is reviewing the case under its personal conduct policy and Jacobs remains on the commissioner's exempt list.
AL Central-leading Chicago (75-70) maintained a two-game lead over Cleveland, which lost at Baltimore.
The Brewers extend their NL Central lead to 10 games over the Cubs.
Milwaukee extended its NL Central lead to nine games over Chicago by coming from behind to defeat the Cubs for a second straight day.
Chicago's Kyle Teel hit his second homer in two games and singled. Munetaka Murakami struck out four times.
Police are searching for a group wanted for damaging multiple cars in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood early Thursday morning.
Thieves stole three golf carts from the Billy Caldwell Golf Course on Chicago's Northwest Side early Thursday.
The parents of a man who was killed after being pushed out of a moving CTA Red Line train were speaking out on Wednesday about their devastating loss.
Valerie Percy, the 21-year-old daughter of then-U.S. Senate candidate Charles Percy, was brutally murdered in her family's home in the affluent North Shore Chicago suburb of Kenilworth in 1966. The case has never been solved.
Two Chicago men have been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for carjacking a Chicago family at gunpoint in the backyard of their home in the Beverly neighborhood in 2023.
