Ventra app crashes on first day of ticketing changes
Scores of Metra passengers left stranded
Hajer Alasali was sure something was wrong with her phone when she couldn’t open the Ventra app Thursday morning.
She restarted her device, then deleted the app and re-downloaded it. Nothing worked. As she stood at a Metra station in Naperville, the 21-year-old quickly became worried she would miss her class at the University of Illinois-Chicago. An error message blocked her from viewing her ticket or the train schedule.
“I was actually really stressed,” Alasali said as she sat on a bench at Chicago Union Station.
“I know they take ticketing really seriously. So if I don’t have my ticket, what if they kick me out?”
Alasali was among scores of passengers left stranded after the Ventra app crashed Thursday, the first day new Metra ticketing changes and procedures went into effect.
As of Thursday afternoon, the app had not been fixed.
Metra first posted about the technical issues just after 8 a.m. on X.
“Conductors have been notified and are allowing passengers to ride until the issue is resolved,” the transit agency said.
Ventra first began to slow down at around 5:44 a.m., and completely stopped working about an hour later, according to Metra spokesperson Meg Reile.
The cause of the issue remains unknown and continued into the afternoon.
“We’re accommodating passengers and working to resolve the issue,” Reile said.
The new fare structure implemented Thursday posed an additional hurdle to riders amid the glitch.
There are now fewer fare zones across the system, which is intended to simplify prices for passengers. The elimination of the 10-ride ticket is among the changes, replaced with a five-pack of day passes.
Additionally, all remaining ticketing windows at the station were closed at the end of January. Passengers can now only purchase fares through the app, ticket vending machines and train conductors.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, an average of 281,100 passengers used Metra trains each weekday, according the transit agency’s ridership data.
Metra has since struggled with maintaining ridership levels and is facing a steep fiscal cliff when federal pandemic aid runs out in 2026.
The agency’s financial issues spurred many of the changes implemented Thursday.
At Chicago Union Station bustling crowds of commuters hurried across the platforms. Boarding calls blared through the loudspeakers. As trains rolled into the station, many passengers expressed their frustration with the app.
Rey Monas, 42, was unable to open his monthly pass Thursday morning as his train left the Hinsdale Metra station. He had just purchased it for the start of the month.
“It’s to be expected when there’s updates to be made,” Monas said as he was walking out of Chicago Union Station.
“It’s frustrating, but you have to just roll with it.”
Ama Abajuro takes a Metra train every day to the Chicago Burger King where she works. She had no way to purchase tickets Thursday morning and was worried she would be late.
“It doesn’t feel great when the conductor asks for you ticket, and you can’t pay,” Abajuro, 38, said. “It’s really, really frustrating.”
Jesus Aguilera stood across the station, scrolling through his phone. The 18-year-old University of Illinois-Chicago student was grateful he had bought a physical ticket from a vending machine in Elgin.
Dozens of other passengers on the platform were struggling with the app, he said.
“Since I had no issues, I don’t really feel that bad, but I do feel bad for the other people,” Aguilera said. “It was a huge inconvenience.”
Another UIC student, Jenny Miranda, had to wait five minutes for the app to load to buy a ticket. She was already upset that the price for her monthly pass had increased, she said.
“I feeling frustrated,” Miranda, 23, said. “All these changes, and then the app doesn’t work.”