Transit app to debut in February for Metra, CTA and Pace riders

Metra will begin testing a new smartphone app in February that allows riders to buy tickets on trains and display them to conductors. The app also can be used by CTA and Pace commuters to add value to Ventra cards.

The Mobile Ventra App is free and will work with Apple or Android smartphones and tablets.

Different features of the app will be rolled out throughout 2015 and 2016. Currently, the CTA and Pace offer a Ventra card that allows commuters to board buses on both systems and CTA trains.

By mid-2015, passengers should be able to: use debit, credit or Ventra cards to increase their Ventra balances; check account status and history; buy and display Metra tickets or passes on smartphones.

Later in 2015, customers should be able to order cards or replace lost and stolen ones with the app, plus plan trips.

In early 2016, CTA and Pace passengers should be able to use the app as a virtual Ventra card and to access buses and train stations.

Metra board directors are expected approve an intergovernmental agreement with the CTA and Pace on Friday.

Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority introduced a similar product some months ago with success, Metra planners said.

Developing the app costs $2.5 million. The cost will be split among Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority.

The proposed change was prompted by a 2011 state law mandating that contactless credit cards or debit cards be accepted for payment by 2015.

Currently, Metra conductors accept only cash on trains, although the agency takes credit at ticket counters and online.

The Metra app was to debut this fall but it's taking longer than anticipated, officials said.