Metra To Slap Limits On Purchases Of 10-Ride Tickets
CHICAGO (CBS) -- If you are worried about a Metra fare increase, and want to stockpile 10-ride tickets, you had better act now.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports, Metra is expected to slap strict limits on the purchase of 10-ride tickets at its board meeting Friday.
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The 10-ride tickets are good for a year from the date of purchase, and that will not change if fares increase, as expected, on Feb. 1. But in 2008, the sales of 10-ride tickets nearly doubled in the weeks preceding a 10 percent increase.
Metra officials are determined not to allow another run on tickets with fares for 10-ride tickets expected to increase by 30 percent.
Metra officials said a month ago they intended to put the brakes on ticket hoarding, and WBBM Newsradio has confirmed that the plan will be outlined at the monthly meeting of Metra's board of directors Friday and implemented almost immediately.
The scope of the limitations is still being determined, but a Metra spokesman says that riders will be able to use any tickets they have already purchased at the existing price for the next year.
One word of warning, though -- don't buy more than you will need. Refunds on unused 10-ride tickets under the new policy will be granted for only three months.
The 10-ride ticket soon will be the only one which riders can stockpile. Monthly passes can only be purchased in the days immediately preceding the new month, and one-ride tickets as of the anticipated February fare increase will be good for only 14 days, instead of a year. One-way tickets will be non-refundable.
