News potpourri: Blue Line shuttle buses; Red Line work break during Taste of Chicago
Questions arose on Monday's post about the shuttle buses scheduled to run on the Blue Line between Rosemont and O'Hare during the three week shutdown of that stretch of track for slow-zone work.
Specifically, folks wanted to know where the buses would go at O'Hare. Here's the answer from a CTA spokesperson:
"The shuttle will stop at the Rosemont station (which has a large terminal area for buses) and at the O'Hare Bus Shuttle Center, which is located directly above the CTA station. So customers will basically be dropped off and picked off one level above where they currently are. We looked into going to the terminals but both the Airport and CTA officials determined that the Shuttle Center was the better solution for logistics all round. (Logistics are why the airport has a shuttle center in the first place.)
We have timed the shuttle and from this location to Rosemont is about 10 minutes, which is just a few minutes longer than the train travel time. If we were to pull into each terminal, the reliability would degrade dramatically due to all the traffic we would encounter and to the added time to make 3-4 stops and load/unload luggage each time. Using the Bus Shuttle Center allows us to provide a more frequent and more reliable schedule than if we were serving the terminals."
So, there you have it.
Also, in case you missed it, this week's overnight work on the Red Line, which will affect northbound service in the tunnel from 9 pm till 5 am, is the last till after the end of Taste of Chicago (June 27 through July 6). So riders who were concerned that slow zone work would muck things up during the Taste can breathe a sigh of relief.
I can't remember (since I never take rental cars at O'Hare, being a local and all), but do the rental car shuttles all go to the bus shuttle center, or do they make circuits to the terminals?
Posted by: ryan | June 24, 2008 at 09:32 AM
It has been awhile since I've flown out of O'Hare, but as I recall the rental car shuttles make circuits to the terminals.
Posted by: ebob | June 24, 2008 at 03:29 PM
Well, I was about to make a sarcastic reply about the discrepancy between CTA and the car rental shuttles, but then I googled, and found that car rentals (at least some companies) do use the bus shuttle center as a "primary" pick-up site. So maybe this is a decent decision.
Posted by: ryan | June 24, 2008 at 04:06 PM
If I remember correctly, there is a shuttle bus loading zone that is actually pretty close to their stairwell that goes right down to the tunnel in front of the O'Hare subway station, so hopefully from a rider standpoint you will be pretty close to where you would have been anyway on the train.
Even more hopefully, CTA and O'Hare can cooperate well enough to get some serious signage in the terminal complex on all approaches to the subway station, and an efficient traffic plan for the buses.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 24, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Although O'Hare does not mark these, there is a very convenient crosswalk connection from doorways 1G(Terminal 1 baggage claim/lower level) and 3A(Terminal 3 baggage claim/lower level) directly to/from the Bus Shuttle Center.
On a nice day, you'll save quite a few minutes of walk time AND avoid wait time for the elevators at the Bus Shuttle Center.
You'll also notice the Delta, United, and American employees and frequent travelers using that same shortcut to/from Terminals 1 & 3 and the Bus Shuttle Center. It's not marked with signs, but the crosswalk into the Terminal is well marked, with STOP signs for Arriving level traffic at those same crosswalks.
For Terminal 2 it's probably easiest to walk from the bus, into the bus shuttle center indoor area, down an elevator, though the tunnels/moving walkways and back up an escalator or elevator to the baggage claim level. (since you have to go under the Hilton hotel anyway-same pathway to/from the CTA train station)
Don't expect O'Hare or CTA to mark these shortcuts either, they probably don't want the liability of you getting hit at a crosswalk-even with the stop signs there. Neither do I, so I'll say "cross at your own risk", even though I did many times arriving with luggage at Terminal 1 getting to a Pace bus. (Pace used to pick-up and drop-off at the same Bus Shuttle Center, before moving to the end of the ATS, in parking lot D )
Posted by: John T | June 24, 2008 at 05:35 PM