Transit permits for Chicago seniors and people with disabilities drop sharply. Here’s why

Getting around Chicago has long been difficult for David Zoltan, but nonetheless he once would have jumped on a bus to get a bite to eat. He would take public transit to meet up with friends, and to doctors’ appointments.

Zoltan, 46, has spinal stenosis that causes severe back pain and one leg is amputated below the knee, and he qualified for a transit pass that allows him to ride Chicago Transit Authority, Pace or Metra for free. But since the start of the pandemic he has rarely used it, limiting trips outside his apartment in Rogers Park on Chicago's North Side. When it was necessary to leave, he often turned instead to more private services like ride-share or programs that provide rides, unwilling to get back on public transit because people with disabilities remain at higher risk for COVID-19.

He didn’t renew his ride-free pass when it expired in 2022.

“Why would you renew a ride-free permit that you’re not using, especially when it’s so much trouble go to through?” he asked.

For years, eligible Chicago-area seniors and