# When To Take Public Transit From The Airport



## CHamilton (Jan 23, 2015)

Planes, Trains And Taxis: When To Take Public Transit From The Airport

Of course, you could always take the train.


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## MARC Rider (Feb 17, 2015)

CHamilton said:


> Planes, Trains And Taxis: When To Take Public Transit From The Airport
> 
> Of course, you could always take the train.



I take exception to one thing he says:

_"Denver International Airport is notoriously far from the center city despite being the only major commercial airport there. For the time being, however, you’ll probably want to buck up and take the taxi. Our method estimates that a car trip to downtown Denver will take 50 minutes vs. an hour and a half on public transit._

_This will change once Denver completes the East Rail Line, which projects to make the journey downtown in just 35 minutes. "_

I recently had the opportunity to (or rather, was forced) to ride public transit from DIA. I had to return a rental car there, then go back to Union Station where I was catching the Zephyr. The express bus ("Skyride") takes only 40 minutes from DIA to Union Station, only 5 minutes longer than the projected travel time for the East Rail Line. Unfortunately, it runs very infrequently -- hourly on Sunday mornings, half hourly later in the day. My shuttle from the car rental arrived at the terminal right after a Skyride bus left, so I had to wait a half hour. That means that my total trip time took an hour, not an hour and a half. I hope that RTD is planning frequent service on the East Line.

A minor quibble about including wait times. The author talks about arriving to the airport at 8 and catching a bus/train by 8:15. Ha Ha  I find it takes me at least 30 minutes, and sometimes an hour to clear the airport. Yes, I usually check baggage, but it still takes time to get off the plane and then hike through the terminal to the ground transportation. If you're renting a car, forget it, it can sometimes take a real long time before you're on your way. The fastest way out of the airport is by taxi, the next fastest is if there's a good transit option, like the CTA Blue Line out of O'Hare. The next might be having someone sit in the cellphone lot and pick you up when you're ready.


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## City of Miami (Feb 17, 2015)

Half hour intervals is not bad IMO and will shorten only if the volume of users increases.

I made a 15 minute transfer to the bus at Pittsburgh recently, but I had scoped it out, knew exactly where to go and by when AND I had luck and carryon only


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## plane2train (Apr 7, 2015)

The MARTA line at Atlanta airport is a godsend for people trying to get into the city during rush hour. It takes only about 20 min into downtown and 30 into Buckhead and is far cheaper than the $40 cab ride to Midtown.


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## Palmetto (Apr 7, 2015)

And let's not forget Metrorail in Miami.


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## DetroitTed (Apr 7, 2015)

And, believe it or not, you can actually get to Phoenix Sky Harbor by light rail.


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## Palmetto (Apr 8, 2015)

Here's one place that's not too good: Chicago. The Blue Linet akes forever, and stops all over the place. And your luggage? It has to go in the aisle somewhere. Becomes quite dicey at rush hour.


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## PerRock (Apr 8, 2015)

Palmetto said:


> Here's one place that's not too good: Chicago. The Blue Linet akes forever, and stops all over the place. And your luggage? It has to go in the aisle somewhere. Becomes quite dicey at rush hour.


However during rush hour the Blue Line is still only going to take about 45mins, whereas and road-based mode is going to take you an hour or more, and is more likely to be delayed even further.

Alternatively the Metra only takes ~37min, but that does not count getting between the station & the airport; so what 40-45mins total then?

--------------

For Detroit, you only have 3 options, all involve the roads. Rental/Cab (this is at rush hour to Cobo) takes you ~30mins, Buses will be 2.5hrs! Hopefully in the next year (or so) we'll have the Commuter Rail up and running, which should shave some time.

peter


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## jebr (Apr 8, 2015)

Yeah, the Blue Line or the Metra is the way to go in Chicago. (The Metra takes about 45 minutes from leaving CUS to entering the terminal. With the quiet car, it's really the best way to go if the times work.)


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## Palmetto (Apr 8, 2015)

I'm not arguing the time piece of the ORD-CUS trip. I'm saying that it's a pain in the butt to have to deal with your luggage on the CTA. Metra's okay, but they don't run as often as does the Blue Line. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.


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## Shawn Ryu (Apr 8, 2015)

Palmetto said:


> Here's one place that's not too good: Chicago. The Blue Linet akes forever, and stops all over the place. And your luggage? It has to go in the aisle somewhere. Becomes quite dicey at rush hour.


With tons of baggage taxis are always the best option if you cannot rent a car. Always.


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## Palmetto (Apr 8, 2015)

Shawn Ryu said:


> Palmetto said:
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> > Here's one place that's not too good: Chicago. The Blue Linet akes forever, and stops all over the place. And your luggage? It has to go in the aisle somewhere. Becomes quite dicey at rush hour.
> ...


You're right, but I don't carry "tons of baggage". Just one suitcase on the Blue Line in rush hour is a pain. Have you ever done it?


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## jis (Apr 8, 2015)

Palmetto said:


> Shawn Ryu said:
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> > Palmetto said:
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In London Piccadilly Line trains at least have some space set aside for baggage, so at Heathrow, many but not all can get their luggage stashed in those little spots. But still as one gets to Acton Town and beyond, and definitely by Hammersmith during rush hours things get pretty tight, specially for those that did not manage get their bag into one of those spots.
I wonder why CTA does sacrifice a few seats on trains that got the airport and is presumably supposed to serve air passengers and perhaps put in a few luggage racks.


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## SarahZ (Apr 8, 2015)

Palmetto said:


> Shawn Ryu said:
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> > Palmetto said:
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Yes, but when I started at O'Hare, it wasn't a huge deal. I tried to tuck it under/next to my seat as much as possible so people wouldn't trip on it. If I was going to O'Hare, I'd put it on my lap if I didn't have room to set it down. I never travel with more than one carry-on, so it didn't kill me to have it on my lap for 30 minutes.

I used to take the Blue Line into the Loop for work every day (from Logan Square). I planned on jockeying for position with people who had luggage. I never felt any ill will toward them. It's a train to/from the airport. Luggage happens. Everyone just did their best to stand/sit and work around it.


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## Eric S (Apr 8, 2015)

Two thoughts on why CTA does not have luggage racks on Blue Line cars: one, cars are interchangeable between all lines, so perhaps they want the flexibility to shift cars around and, two, my guess would be that since the overwhelming majority of Blue Line riders are not traveling to/from O'Hare (or Orange Line riders for Midway) they figured more people would be inconvenienced by such a move - not saying it's necessarily the best approach, just guessing.


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## Ispolkom (Apr 8, 2015)

Palmetto said:


> Shawn Ryu said:
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> > Palmetto said:
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Yes, a suitcase on the Blue Line in rush hour in is a pain. Sitting stuck in traffic in a taxi is also a pain. A slower, more expensive pain, I think. YMMV, of course, but at rush hour I'm always going to take the Blue Line to O'Hare over a taxi.


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