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3/20/2026
Chicago commuter railroad Metra on April 6 will begin piloting new hand-held ticket scanning devices.
As part of the pilot, Metra officials will ask riders to show their tickets prior to boarding select trains in downtown Chicago. This applies to both paper tickets and QR code tickets on the Ventra fare system app, Metra officials said in a press release.
The goal of the pilot is to test the speed, functionality and durability of the new handheld devices, they added.
The technology may be useful to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA), a new public transportation governance body that will be formed later this year as part of the NITA Act, a Illinois transit funding and reform bill that became law late last year, Metra officials said. NITA will replace the existing Regional Transportation Authority that oversees Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Pace bus system.
NITA will be required to integrate fare systems for the three transit agencies, and handheld scanners may be a solution, Metra officials said.
The new technology also will help Metra collect data on riders using paper tickets or Ventra tickets, where tickets are purchased and riders' destinations, officials said.