The one-stop mobile app gives transit passengers who travel on CTA ‘L’ trains or buses, Pace or Metra commuter trains the ability to plan, manage and pay for their journeys for each of the region’s agencies. The companies say this is an industry first for fully integrated regional transit services, combining visually validated mobile ticketing for Metra with the Ventra account-based open payment system initially deployed to CTA and Pace.
Metra passengers can now purchase fares on their smartphones utilising partner GlobeSherpa’s mobile ticketing platform, allowing them to manage their Ventra accounts and use all three transit systems, and Metra conductors can now easily validate tickets on smartphones simply by asking customers to tap their phone’s screen.
The app enables customer to manage their Ventra transit accounts, buy mobile tickets to ride Metra trains and receive notifications when their account balances are low or when unlimited-ride passes are due to expire. There is also an extensive Transit Tracker feature that enables customers to view schedules and arrival times for Metra, CTA and Pace. In a later phase, customers will be able to download a virtual Ventra Card onto their near-field communication-compatible mobile devices, allowing them to access their Ventra transit accounts to pay for rides on CTA trains and CTA and Pace buses directly from the Ventra mobile app by touching their smartphone or other mobile device to a Ventra reader.
The Ventra mobile app is available on Apple and Android smartphones and tablet devices via the App Store and Google Play.
