Metra will discontinue its free day pass program for UChicago students on May 31, the commuter rail service and the University confirmed to the Maroon.
University Senior Associate Vice President for Operations for the Department of Safety and Security Eric Heath announced the end of the program in a March 26 email to students.
The program offers students five free Metra Day Passes annually for train rides within Metra zones one to three, which include the entire Metra Electric line that passes through Hyde Park. Any students who have not claimed passes this academic year will be able to do so until May 31.
The move comes as Metra plans to expand U-Pass+, a version of the U-Pass program that allows participating students to take unlimited rides on both the Metra and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains and buses. U-Pass+ was launched for University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) students in 2024, with over 4,100 students opting to purchase it over the regular U-Pass.
Metra plans to expand the U-Pass+ to all current U-Pass partner universities, replacing previous partnerships that provided Metra tickets to students.
“We are ending [the sale of Day Pass 5-Packs] because we now have the U-Pass+ and we want that fare product to be the standard product offered to all colleges and universities,” a Metra representative wrote in a statement to the Maroon, adding that U-Pass+ has been offered to the University for the upcoming academic year.
The Metra pass program began in autumn 2022, initially offering all students the opportunity to request a free 10-pack of one-way Metra tickets—which the University purchased directly from Metra—through their my.UChicago accounts. When Metra discontinued the 10-pack pass in February 2024, the University began providing a five-pack of Day Passes instead.
Almost 2,000 students requested a five-pack of free Metra passes this academic year, according to a University spokesperson.
The standard U-Pass program will continue to give all undergraduate and Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice students unlimited free rides on CTA buses and trains through spring quarter. Any changes to the U-Pass program for the upcoming academic year will be announced ahead of the start of autumn quarter, the University spokesperson said.
Currently, each College student is charged a $106 U-Pass fee per quarter. It is unclear how fees would change if the U-Pass+ program were adopted, though UIC charges students who opt in to U-Pass+ more than double the cost of standard U-Passes.
Metra and the CTA will be overseen by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) starting September 1, following the passage of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act last year. Part of the bill requires NITA to consolidate fare collection by merging the previously separate systems used to purchase CTA and Metra tickets.
