Pace, CTA at odds over reimbursement agreement

Pace officials are at odds with the Chicago Transit Authority over a reimbursement agreement.

Under a previous arrangement between the two agencies, Pace bus drivers accepted CTA one-ride passes valued at $1.75 from riders on its paratransit service in Chicago.

But the pact, which required the CTA to refund Pace for those passes, expired at the end of 2007.

Negotiations to renew the deal have gone nowhere. As a result, Pace directors voted Wednesday to stop accepting CTA passes on paratransit in Chicago effective Oct 1.

The switch makes sense because the majority of paratransit users already are switching to Pace passes, which cost $2.25 per ride, officials said. When riders used the CTA passes they had to pay an additional 50 cents.

The agency also is owed about $65,000 by the CTA in outstanding reimbursements, which Pace administrators said they may have to absorb, explaining that the Chicago agency hadn't responded to inquiries to continue negotiations.

"Shame on the CTA for not reimbursing us ... we're not the ones causing the problem," said Director Frank Mitchell, a Lockport resident.

"It's fundamentally wrong to sell a service and keep the money," said Director Vernon Squires, of Wilmette.

But CTA officials sent a letter to Pace Tuesday asking administrators to contact them to finalize the agreement, agency spokesman Noelle Gaffney said Friday.

As for the $65,000, "to reimburse anything, we need an agreement in place," she said.

Some paratransit customers complained there aren't many places in Chicago to buy Pace passes.

Pace took over providing paratransit services to Chicagoans from the CTA in 2006 as a result of changes in state law.

Pace staff agreed to work on offering more locations to purchase passes.