Chicago transit riders will be able to access the city’s Ventra system via a new mobile app starting Thursday.

Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace announced Friday that the app would be available for free on Apple and Android devices later this week. The release — delayed by poor user experience and technical glitches — marks a significant step toward paperless payment.

Metra passengers will be able to pay for train rides using virtual tickets on their smartphones, but Pace and CTA riders can initially only reload cards and view estimated arrival times.

Later on, officials said, everyone will have the ability to pay for rides by tapping their smartphones on a Ventra reader. This technology — near-field communication — already exists in the some devices but has not yet been integrated onto buses and at train stations.

“The Ventra app has always been envisioned as the next step in a modern fare payment system,” CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase told The Daily last month. “It’s the first of its kind in the United States in terms of being multi-transit agency.”

Developers began working on the app in 2014, a year after the implementation of Ventra, Chicago’s $519 million fare payment system. After its initial delay in May, officials partnered with a local technology consultant to help improve the app.

Since then, more than 700 individuals have provided feedback on the technology.

“We get one chance to make a first impression,” Chase said last month. “We vowed to the public that (the app) would not be launched until we had tested the heck out of it — not just kicking the tires, but kicking the tires hard.”

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: davidpkfishman