Ruthie Young says she takes CTA trains everywhere.

The 75-year-old Chicago resident uses public transportation often because she has no other way to get around, aside from getting rides from her granddaughter on Sundays.

“I depend on it,” she said as she waited for a train at the Roosevelt El stop Tuesday.

Young pays nothing to use the El because of the Seniors Ride Free program, which allows people 65 and older to ride for free on the CTA, Metra and Pace systems.

This program has been a lifesaver for Young and many of her peers, she said.

“The older people, they’re finished working so they don’t get out much,” Young said. “And what little money they do have, they need it to buy food and pay rent.”

In January, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a law granting free rides to all people 65 and older living in Regional Transportation Authority service area.

This includes people in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. Riders must have Senior Reduced Fare Cards or a Senior Ride Free Smart Cards to take advantage of the program, which took effect in March.

Active military personnel, disabled military veterans and low-income disabled people also ride free on the CTA.
CTA officials say that these programs, while good for the users, create hardships elsewhere.

Providing free rides for seniors will cost the RTA about $30 million per year, spokeswoman Diane Palmer said. CTA President Ron Huberman announced Thursday that there will likely be fare increases in 2009; he cited the program as one of the reasons.

However, others say the ride free program is probably not a major contributor to CTA financial woes and that the CTA may be overestimating the financial impact of the program.

Joe DiJohn, director of the Metropolitan Transportation Support Initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago is studying the impact of the program on the RTA agencies.

Senior ridership on the CTA increased about 50 percent within the first few months of the program, he said. “The indication is it’s a rather significant number,” DiJohn said.

The increased ridership indicates that the number of free rides doesn’t directly translate to lost revenue.

“There are some [seniors] who use it who are using it more, but it’s also attracting new riders,” he said.

Additionally, the free rides probably aren’t the only reason for the 50 percent jump.

“There’s usually more than just one factor impacting ridership,” DiJohn said. “There’s the rising gas prices as well as Seniors Ride Free.”

Another expert said he could see the strain on revenue but doubted the additional riders were a strain on capacity.

Joseph Schofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, said that most of the seniors probably aren’t riding during peak periods.

His concern is that some seniors who could afford to pay don’t have to.

“When it comes to the fare box, everyone pays the same.” Schofer said. “The assumption is that all seniors are low-income and they’re not.”

CTA bus rider Gloria Henderson, who will turn 63 next week, said she thinks the system is losing too much money as a result of the program. On Wednesday, the Hyde Park resident waited for a bus near the Roosevelt El station.

“Do they realize how many seniors there are who ride the bus?” Henderson said. “That should have been taken into account. And now there’s even more riding.”

Henderson is able to buy a $35 monthly pass because she is disabled. Before the Seniors Ride Free program was enacted, seniors could also buy a pass for the same price. That wasn’t too much to ask from most seniors, she said.

Still, she’ll be registering for a pass as soon as she is old enough, she said.

“I’m looking forward to my free ride,” Henderson said. “I want my free pass.”