Ventra

Chicago Transit Authority

About this app

Use transit in and around all of Chicago: It's easy to manage and pay your fare on CTA, Metra and Pace buses and trains with the Ventra app. Find all the features you're used to on the Ventra website and more, including mobile ticketing for Metra trains!


With the Ventra app, you can:


• Check your balance and available passes in your Ventra Card's transit account.
• Instantly load value or passes to your Ventra Card's transit account.
• Switch autoload for transit value or passes on and off.
• Buy and use Metra mobile tickets to ride any Metra train.
• Use transit value you've loaded to buy a Metra ticket.
• Get real-time account notifications so you know when it's time to load more fare or buy more tickets.
• Get real-time arrival/departure information from CTA, Metra and Pace all in one app—by picking a stop, using favorites or looking at service near where you're standing.

Ratings and reviews

Great app. Has helped me save so much time traveling between Crystal Lake, IL and Chicago. But I had to take a star off because when I'm traveling I like to turn off any unneeded settings, to save power, like locations. But I've learned that Ventra ALMOST requires you to have locations on. If locations aren't on, the app will continue to prompt you to enable locations. Each prompt is around 2 seconds apart. This is very annoying.

Edit: it's been months now, and the "favorites" section still fails to show any times Do you need something convenient to buy transit fare with? This is a pretty good option. I prefer it to using Google pay or the actual website. Do you need something to check bus/ train routes and statuses? There are so many better apps. Like, actually don't get this one unless it's for the first option. It's slow, it's glitchy, and the bus/train information can be inaccurate more times than not.

Some things work well. Other things are horrible. Made the mistake of marking something as a "favorite" and now have the inability to remove it. It will show that there are two more favorites that are hidden but when you hit expand, it will not show them. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling it and it does the same thing. Maddening!

What's new

The latest release of the Ventra App brings you updates to Metra fares for a more seamless commuting experience!

What's New:
Metra Fare Changes:
• Stay ahead of your journey with the latest Metra fare adjustments.
• The app now reflects the most up-to-date Metra pricing for accurate trip planning.