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CTA Rides Free From 10% — the Military Service Pass

A Chicago-area veteran receiving VA disability compensation of 10% or greater rides CTA buses and trains free with the Military Service Pass — and the pass can carry value for Pace buses. Uniformed active personnel ride free without it.

Verified August 21, 2026

What this benefit is

A Chicago-area veteran receiving VA disability compensation of 10% or greater rides CTA buses and trains free with the Military Service Pass — and the pass can carry value for Pace buses. Uniformed active personnel ride free without it.

What it's worth: Free rides on CTA buses and trains; pass loadable with value for Pace

  • Estimated against a commuter paying full fare twice a working day; occasional riders save less.

Who is entitled to it

  • You receive VA disability compensation of 10% or greater.
  • You are in Cook County, the CTA heartland.
  • The CTA serves your area.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Submit the application with an official VA letter dated within the last 12 months showing a service-connected disability of 10% or greater — or proof of military disability retirement pay in lieu of it — plus a state ID.
  2. 2Drilling National Guard, Reserve and Coast Guard members qualify with their identification; active personnel out of uniform need the pass, while full uniform plus an armed forces ID rides free without it.
  3. 3Retired-but-not-disabled is NOT a route: the CTA says so in terms and points those 65 and older at the regional senior programmes instead.
Form
Military Pass Program Application
File with
Ventra Customer Service Center, 567 W. Lake St., or by mail to the Ventra Military Pass Program
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
Periodic
Re-confirmed from time to time.
CorrectionSummaries file free CTA rides under "disabled veterans" as if a high rating were needed. The stated gate is compensation at 10% or greater — the lowest free-transit threshold we have verified anywhere — and the sharp edge is elsewhere: military retirees without a service-connected disability are excluded.

Sources

Why only one source type: The authority's own page states the 10% gate, both proof routes, the uniform rule and the retiree exclusion in terms.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.