PULLMAN — Metra will remove its remaining cash-only ticket machines on May 1.
The commuter rail service pointed to declining use of the machines as well as the increase in ticket purchases via credit card and through the Ventra app as reasons behind the decision.
“As our customers have embraced new technology available to purchase their tickets, we’ve continued to look for ways to use our limited resources as efficiently as possible,” said Don Orseno, Metra's executive director and chief financial officer.
Metra's Electric Line is the only line where cash vending machines remain, and 15 stations have these machines. The machines accounted for 35.9 percent of ticket sales in 2012 on the line that serves the South Side and southern suburbs.
Last year, these same machines were responsible for just 14.4 percent of ticket sales there, according to the announcement made Wednesday.
The Ventra app was introduced in late 2015. It now accounts for 19.7 percent of tickets sold on the Electric Line. Purchases from credit card vending machines and onboard sales have also seen slight increases, according to Metra .
“Purchases made through the cash-only vending machines have declined to the point where it is no longer cost-efficient to maintain them,” said Orseno, who estimated that phasing out the cash-only vending machines will reduce operating expenses by $534,000 annually.