As Metra amended its fare structure and the way riders purchase tickets Feb.1, it also launched the Access Pilot Program, which offers reduced fares on all Metra lines for low-income riders.
Those who are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients and live within Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry or Will County qualify for the Access Pilot Program, which reduces Metra fares by about 50%.
“Transit is vital to Cook County. We need transit service that is fast, frequent and also equitable,” said Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County’s board president, in a statement. “The Access Pilot Program is an important next step to make travel options fair for everyone, no matter your zip code or neighborhood.”
The Access Pilot Program, a collaboration between Metra, Cook County and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), replaces the Fair Transit South Cook pilot, which offered reduced fare over the last three years to everyone who rode Metra’s Electric and Rock Island lines.
About four years ago, Preckwinkle reached out to Metra to participate in the Fair Transit South Cook pilot, said Michael Gillis, communications director for Metra.
“Cook County had done a study that showed that residents of South Chicago and South Cook County were the most transit-dependent and economically disadvantaged among the county residents in the region,” Gillis said.
Funded by motor fuel tax revenue, the Fair Transit South Cook pilot aimed to increase ridership among those in South Cook County – and on the Metra overall, since, from 2021 to 2023, Metra’s operating expenses were $570 million lower than pre-pandemic levels.
“The transit agencies are facing some financial challenges right now because of the reduction in fare revenue they’ve seen post-pandemic,” said Jesse Elam, director of strategic planning and policy for Cook County’s Department of Transportation and Highways.
“The lower fares did lead those two lines to recover ridership faster than most of the other Metra lines,” Gillis said of the Fair Transit South Cook pilot helping ridership to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. “It did end up being advantageous to a lot of the people that it was aimed at.”
So, Metra, Cook County and RTA expanded reduced fares to everyone riding Metra who also is a SNAP recipient.
According to the Illinois Department of Human Services, more than 900,000 individuals in Cook County were SNAP recipients at the end of last year. Nearly another 300,000 people received SNAP in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties.
If the Access Pilot Program is successful after 18 months — through July 2025 —Cook County and RTA hope to expand it to Pace and CTA services.
“We want to make sure that people are using it, that a lot of people are signing up, and that it grows over time,” Elam said. “Those are two of the main things that we would count as being successful programs.”
Elam said the estimated cost of the Access Pilot Program is $10 million, of which Cook County is contributing $6 million. RTA and Metra will cover administrative costs and any lost operating revenue.
Applications for reduced Metra fare are available by calling 312-913-3110 or visiting getaccess.org. Applicants will need a current SNAP decision notice, a valid Illinois ID or driver’s license with an address that matches the one on the SNAP decision notice, and a current color photo of themselves.