A little backstory. I arrived at the Jackson Station on the Blue Line yesterday. This station is ~ two blocks from Union Station. Here is what I don't understand:

- The machines that sell CTA cards do not accept credit cards
- These machines do not give change
- The agent on duty came out of the token booth when we seemed confused and also refused to make change for us. What exactly is her position then?
- My Dad asked her why the machines didn't take credit cards and she shrugged and said "they do at O'Hare". Not very helpful
- She also wouldn't let us put $5 on one card and share it between the two of us. So we bought an extra card then threw it out. Seems wasteful.

I think Chicago may be the only transit system I used this year (out of 15 in four countries) where I couldn't buy my fare card with a credit card. This makes very little sense to me and it seems horribly counter-intuitive. As does the lack of change making abilities.

Anyway, sorry to rant, it was frustrating. Luckily the rest of my visit was great.