“I-GO sees itself as a form of public transportation that provides the last mile solution for the CTA.” That’s the good word from reporter John Skelly, Jr., writing about I-GO’s partnership with the CTA for Northwestern University’s Medill Reports.
The article describes the motivating factors behind the 2008 development of the Chicago Card Plus/I-GO Card, a joint smartcard offered by I-GO that lets its members access both I-GO vehicles and CTA trains and buses. Today, reports Skelly, there are about 1,800 cards in circulation. The result: cost savings across transportation modes and a progressive re-thinking of how public transit can fit within a mixture of services to better meet the needs of a metropolitan population.
“You could have the most extensive transit system in the world but every rail line has to have an end. If you have I-GO cars at a station, people can take a car,” says I-GO’s Business Development Manager, Richard Kosmacher, who’s quoted in the article along with other sources who provide a well-rounded POV on the benefits of I-GO.
