Ventra app

These websites, videos, apps, and maps will make it easier for newbies to get around the region on transit and bike.

Metra wants to lock in its 66-year-old train car design for another 30 years. The agency, which hasn't yet adopted a strategic plan that it started writing four years ago, seems to adhere to a policy of "if it ain't broke don't fix it." The problem is that they don't realize that things are indeed broken.

[The Chicago Reader recently launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]

Earlier this month, the CTA, Metra, and Pace announced that they are delaying the launch of the Ventra mobile app from this spring until this fall, and that an independent civic app testing group will help vet it. Contrary to what Chicago Tribune transportation writer Jon Hilkevitch wrote, that's not a sign that there are "undisclosed issues" with the technology. Rather, it shows that the transit agencies are being careful to thoroughly test the app before releasing it to the public. Given the rocky launch of the Ventra card two years ago, that's a wise strategy.

Imagine this scenario: You're running late to catch Metra's UP-North Line to Rogers Park and, because the trains run so infrequently, you really need to make this run. You don't have a 10-ride ticket in your wallet, the line for a ticket agent is too long, there are no vending machines at Ogilvie Transportation Center, and the conductors will charge you a $3 surcharge (soon to be $5) if you buy a ticket from them.