Is it just me or is Chicago Card Plus kind of crummy?

[aragx6]

I never had any problems with mine. Used it on the bus every day for a year.

[Lorielicious]

I'm a Chicago noob too, and I like the Chi-Plus card because I don't have to buy a new card when my month is up or reload; it just automatically renews. That's the only benefit as far as I can see, but one that's worth a lot.

Re: Scanning through the wallet. Yeah, it would be a great convenience if it actually worked, but it never does on the L, and does 90% of the time for me on the bus, so it shakes down to something like 60% of my CTA rides involving me taking my pass out of my wallet. A very minor annoyance that's well worth the reload convenience, considering the magnetic strip passes always need to be removed from the wallet.

[jwaiter]

The magnetic stripe cards aren't without their own problems. I buy the 30-day pass and have had problems twice...

1) the magnetic stripe didn't work at all, i was told to go to the CTA HQ off the Clinton stop and I did and they replaced it.

2) getting on the L train the machine ate the card, it never came out. So I had to wait around for 20 minutes while the attendant (lucky there was one) filled out a form and then gave me a $20 value card, I was like "I just lost an $86 30-day pass!" and he says "well carry this form I filled out and show it to the attendant and they'll let you ride" I was like "can't I just go to the CTA HQ and get a replacement card?" he says he doesn't know (!!!!!) So I went to the CTA HQ and they did replace my card, but, again, it's a big hassle, there's a looong ass line and it takes a lot of my time!

So, yea, the magnetic stripe cards are not fool proof either.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by emathias

Not exactly soon, but over the next couple of years it will be replaced with something else. The "something else" isn't yet set in stone, but will probably be a third-party-run card that will also be marketed as a payment card for other services. Something like the Octopus Card in Hong Kong if we're lucky, which can be used not just for public transport, but also in shops and restaurants and, finally soon it seems, in taxis. It would be very useful if Chicago got something like that and could use it for the CTA, Pace, Metra, parking meters, laundry machines, vending machines, shops and taxis. We should know exactly what we're gettign within the next year or so.

I've had the Chicago Card Plus for a long time now, and I've never had a problem. I also have a second one I loan to visiting friends that has never had a problem. I will say that I always remove the card from my wallet to use it - I don't try to scan it while still in the wallet.

If I could use the same card I do for trains and buses and swipe it in taxis as well I'd be in hog heaven!

[chrawnick]

Originally Posted by chicago60614

if i could use the same card i do for trains and buses and swipe it in taxis as well i'd be in hog heaven!

hnnnnnnnggggggggg!!

[CoolSocks]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

If I could use the same card I do for trains and buses and swipe it in taxis as well I'd be in hog heaven!

Well there is the new Chicago Plus I-GO
CTA & I-GO smart card : I-GO Car Sharing (http://www.igocars.org/how/chicago-card-plus-i-go-card/ - broken link)

[scsm]

Originally Posted by emathias

Not exactly soon, but over the next couple of years it will be replaced with something else. The "something else" isn't yet set in stone, but will probably be a third-party-run card that will also be marketed as a payment card for other services. Something like the Octopus Card in Hong Kong if we're lucky.

I hope not, I was in Hong Kong in December and buying stuff with the Octopus card was so easy I realized I had gone on in insane shopping spree and used up all my money on my card buying crazy Asian Kit-Kat bars and Chinese beer.

But seriously, something like the Octopus card would be amazing.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by scsm

So I just moved to Chicago about two weeks ago. For my first few days I was here I wasn't using CTA very much so I just paid for a magnetic strip pass per ride. About a week ago I went to the CTA office and got a unlimited ride Chicago Plus card and I'm starting to wonder if this thing kind of just sucks or if I'm doing something wrong.

For one, when I ride the bus it never seems to read it the first time I swipe it. Getting on the L it reads it fine, but on the bus the driver is always telling me to "try it again." I'm also just figuring out when it beeps like crazy when you touch it to the pad, that means its working.

Also if I had been paying attention it seems like very few riders actually use the contactless Chicago Cards, everyone uses the magnetic strips.

I've also been charged for riding twice. I checked online and it shows I swiped it at like 6:15 and 6:16. The first one of course was under my unlimited rides but it charged me for my ghost travel buddy. (I did contact CTA and complained about the charge)

So is it just me and the plus cards are just lousy, or is just operator error on this transplant's part?

I've had a Chicago Card Plus for about 4 years now... I've had all the problems you're having with all of my cards as well. Some of the cards work well and others don't, I have no idea why. I'm on my 3rd card after swapping out two cards that just decided to stop working about 50% of the time. Still, with the card I have now, it only reads at one of the entrances to the blue line at Washington and doesn't work at the other (which makes no sense to me). I also often have to bend the card to get it to read at other stations and I have to scan it twice on the bus probably 80% of the time too. It's pretty worthless in terms of scanning easily.

My husband also has a Chicago Card Plus and his is so much better. He doesn't have to take it out of his wallet for the bus or train. It just always works. Occasionally we trade cards because he has the unlimited monthly subscription and I pay per ride (cause I work from home regularly)... he always has trouble with my card too, so I know it isn't just me. My card just sucks.

[paytonc]

Some of the cards work better than others. Some wallets are made of better material; obviously, thinner is better. I find that sliding the card over the target seems to work better than tapping it.

Before sending yours back, though, you should check to see if there are other RFID cards in your wallet that could be interfering with the CC+. A lot of newer credit/debit cards and student ID cards, not to mention workplace ID/access cards and other cities' transit cards, have RFID chips in them. If you have a bank card with something like this logo on it, move it away from your CC+ in your wallet and try again.

As for why people on the bus use magnetic stripe cards (or cash) rather than CC+, for several years people had to go to rail stations to refill their Chicago Cards -- whereas the mag-stripe cards were available at retail locations citywide. So, people who just rode the bus had little interface with the Chicago Card system. These days, I'd chalk much of it up to the fact that Chicago Cards are more common among those who have Transit Benefit, credit cards, and internet access, and bus passengers are perhaps less likely than rail passengers to have any of the above.

[chicagobear]

My first one went bad after a couple of years, and I replaced it (and paid the $5) and the second one has just gome bad after a couple of months. I thought maybe I was demagnetizing them but their website said that wasn't possible. I've ordered another one and am just paying the $5 rather than fighting with them over the defect in the second card.