Last week my Chicago Transit Card started to die. The card, which automatically deducts $1.75 from my credit card for every bus ride, was refusing to register without 3-4 swipes.

Actually, Chicago Transit makes interest off the $60 it deducts from my credit card whenever the balance drops below a few bucks. Then the agency takes $1.75 a trip from an interest-bearing account that benefits Chicago Transit.

Gee, $1.75 to ride on buses that pump diesel directly into the cabin. I’m paying to get lung cancer.

So I ordered a replacement card and Chicago Transit, in all it’s rip-off splendor, CHARGED me $5 for the new one. I paid that same amount for the original less than a year ago.

It’s not my fault those things are JUNK. Worse, Chicago Transit deactivated my card immediately. In other words, BEFORE the new one arrives. I guess I’ll be walking home. Oh wait, it’s 8 degrees outside.

Double bonus: it’s $2 for cash payers. Meanwhile, Chicago-Transit continues to make interest on the $60 they pulled out of my credit card the other day.

It’s hard to understand why the transit agency continually threatens to cancel bus routes; is it really running out of money? (Yeah, probably.)

Still, this is the third or fourth time Chicago Transit has scared the heck out of commuters since the summer. Talk about customer service.

If it didn’t cost $32 a day to park in the Loop, I’d drive to work and say to heck with the environment. My Toyota Echo, which is still in storage, puts out fewer fumes anyway.