As a user of the CTA, have you ever stopped and thought about how much you spend on transit 
weekly or even monthly? In these times, I’m sure you have. I graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2007; during my time there I was provided a CTA U-Pass, a master key to all that is CTA in Chicago at no extra cost.
As most know, the educational institutions in downtown Chicago are known as commuter schools. Lack of space for a quad or dorms leaves many poor students with no choice but to commute from home rather than pay high rent costs. In an exercise in efficiency, all Chicago Colleges are required to provide this master key to each and every student, whether they use it or not.
However, going back to my initial point of pondering how much it costs us to take the CTA monthly (which is $90), an underground market has stormed into Chicago. You take one part poor college student, give them a valuable resource they don’t use, and one part recent college graduate, you have a perfect situation for both parties.
Is this unethical? Maybe but do I enjoy paying $80 dollars (saving myself over $300) for a U-Pass that will run until the middle of May? You know I do. That’s right folks, I am a repeat offender of this crime of opportunity. In fact, this will be my third time transforming into a College student in the last three years.
I highly recommend asking some of your college friends who commute to see if they can be bought. If that doesn’t work you can look around for postings like the one below posted on Craigslist.com on 1-20-2010:
“Hey there everyone. So I am selling my CTA U-PASS which is issued by my university and is unlimited EL rides and Bus fare until May 15th. These are completely legit and I simply do not need it because I don’t use public transportation. A typical 30 day pass by the CTA runs at about $86 and I am selling mine for about $150 or best offer. Just make me an offer!! You can email me or text me.”
Please know that this racket has come under heavy scrutiny from the CTA and Colleges alike, if you do decide to join me as one of the many college graduates using a U-Pass and get caught, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Popularity: 5% [?]
