Yay, CTA! Farecard machines to accept credit and debit cards

File this under Best News Ever: The CTA is installing new farecard machines that will accept your credit card or debit card.

Maybe my reaction is a bit dramatic, but today's CTA announcement made my morning. That's probably because I waste about five minutes most mornings scrounging up enough quarters and/or $1 bills to ride the bus to and from work. Plus, I don't make ATM runs often enough to put more cash on my farecard. (I'm one of those people that goes out for beers and when the check comes I always end up saying, "Uh oh, I don't have any cash. Be right back!") And when it's time to catch the bus--especially when it's freezing outside--the last thing I want to do is go withdraw cash at an ATM, walk to the nearest CTA station, buy my CTA card, go to my bus stop...and THEN wait for the bus. Better to be able to put a larger sum on the card with my credit or debit. We even wrote about this exact conundrum (and others) in TOC's CTA issue last year. Anyway, eureka! Thanks CTA!

Here are the details, from the CTA's press release:

The  farecard machines will accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card and American Express credit cards, as well as debit cards.

When paying with credit card or an applicable debit card, the minimum value that can be added to a magnetic strip transit card or Chicago Card is $5. As a security measure, the maximum value that can be charged to a credit card is $25 each calendar day (that seems weird to me, but whatever).

The first five of 60 machines are located at O’Hare station (Blue Line), Merchandise Mart (Brown and Purple Express Lines), Clark/Lake (Loop), Adams/Jackson (Blue Line) and Midway (Orange Line). Following a 30-day testing period, the remaining 55 express farecard machines are expected to be installed over the next four months at more than 45 CTA rail stations.