Chicago: Ventra outage hits 60 CTA stations, results in 15,000 free rides

By Liam Ford Tribune reporter
8:04 a.m. CST, November 14, 2013


The troubled Ventra fare-payment system took another hit during the Wednesday evening rush hour when some card readers at 60 of the CTA’s 145 train stations failed, resulting in 15,000 free rides for commuters before the problem was fixed, according to the agency.

A “back-office server” malfunctioned around 4:30 p.m., causing Ventra readers to go out in a ripple effect that shut down readers anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes, according to CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase. The card readers were rebooted as customer service employees waved through riders.

The CTA estimates it gave about 15,000 free rides during the outage. In all, 165 card readers were affected out of about 800 readers at rail stations, Chase said. The readers on buses were not affected, she said.

The agency said it would bill the contractor for Ventra, Cubic Transportation Systems, for the costs of the outage. ......................(more)

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