Metra announced Oct. 5 that it has completed installation of charging stations at four of its downtown stations.
Charging stations are now available in the waiting areas at Millennium Station, Van Buren Street Station, LaSalle Street Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center, and in the lower suburban concourse at Ogilvie near the Metra Market, providing Metra customers with a convenient and free place to recharge electronic mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops. Metra also anticipates installing a charging station in the coming months in its ticketing area at Chicago Union.
“Making the right capital investments so that riders have access to technology is a good business decision for Metra. Our riders have told us that access to their electronic devices is important and we were able to respond to their needs by adding this amenity to our downtown stations,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno said. “Listening to our customers and responding whenever feasible helps us attract and retain the riders we need to keep ticket revenues up and fare increases down.”
To further enhance the agency’s customer connectivity options, Metra will also be installing free Wi-Fi in the waiting areas of downtown stations within 45 days, and it recently announced plans to test Wi-Fi on 11 cars systemwide before January 2016.
A recent study by the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University indicated more than three times as many Metra riders are performing electronic tasks such as texting and reading emails on phones today compared to five years ago. Fewer than 14 percent of passengers were performing such tasks in 2010, compared to 44 percent this year.
