The 75-cent student fare is available for full-time students ages 7–20 for trips to and from regular day classes (at a public, parochial or private elementary or high school). The special fares are available Monday thru Friday, 5:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m., on days school is in session with the use of their student Ventra card. When school is not in session, children ages 7-11 receive the reduced rate of $1.10 on rail and $1.00 on the buses, and younger children ride free.
Last Friday, Mayor Emanuel and the CTA announced the transit agency will once again provide students with free CTA bus and train rides on the first day of school, which is Tuesday, September 2. The goal of the “First Day, Free Rides” program, which Mayor Emanuel and the CTA begin in the fall of 2011, is to promote attendance on the first day of school – which sets the tone for the rest of the school year.
As in previous school years, the 75-cent Student Reduced Fare is available with a Ventra card that must be obtained from the school where the child is registered or directly from Ventra via a special online student form available at http://www.transitchicago.com/students/. In order to obtain student fare cards, students should not obtain Ventra cards from vending machines or from retailers who sell Ventra.
For new students attending Chicago Public Schools, they will be able to get a student Ventra card from their school administrator. If the student has previously attended CPS and already has a student Ventra card, those students do not need to get a new card – they should use that same card for the new school year. Their school already has their Ventra information and those cards will automatically deduct the correct reduced student fare when the fall session begins.
