With the Democratic National Convention less than a week away, let's take a look at how the event is affecting sustainable transportation in Chicago.
The gathering is taking place at the United Center and McCormick Place. To accommodate convention attendees, Metra is running hourly shuttle trains on the North Central Line between the O’Hare Transfer Station (the closest commuter rail station to the airport) and Union Station, in about 35 minutes. And the recently opened $80 million CTA Damen Green Line station is now the closest 'L' stop to the United Center.
Meanwhile, the Metra Electric line has a station under McCormick Place, and the Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line stop is only a few blocks away. Once the security perimeters for the United Center and McCormick Place are in full effect, the CTA buses serving both areas will be rerouted. But if what I saw earlier this week is any indication, even partial security perimeters are already having an effect on walkability.
North Central Service O’Hare shuttle
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Central Service’s schedule had few off-peak and reverse commute options, operated 11 trains in each direction per weekday, with no weekend service. The pandemic severely reduced that schedule, and it’s only been partially restored, with seven trains running in each direction per weekday.
Normally, weekend Metra NCS runs are off the table because Canadian National, which owns the portion of the line between Franklin Park and Antioch, vetoed them. O'Hare travelers can take the Airport Transit System train from any airport terminal to the O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility (mostly a rental car center, but it is also served by Pace buses), and then walk to the O’Hare Transfer station to catch Metra, and vice-versa. But since the NCS doesn't usually operate on weekends, on Saturdays and Sundays it's not an option for travel to and from O'Hare.
However, Metra's O'Hare shuttle train are also running on weekends, with service that started on August 12, a week before the DNC and it will keep running until August 30.
(Of course, the CTA Blue Line runs 24-7 and more frequently between O'Hare and downtown. The regular fare to the airport is only $2.50, but an 'L' trip from the airport is $5.00, so that averages out to $3.75, the same as the Metra shuttle in each direction. Unlike using Metra, for most terminals it's not necessary to take the Airport Transit System between the terminal and the Blue Line station. It's also possible to ride the Blue Line all the way from the airport to the Illinois Medical District station, which is a reasonable walk from the United Center – more on that in a bit.
But the Blue Line ride between O'Hare and downtown is supposed to take about 45 minutes, rather than about 35 minutes on the NCS. And perhaps the thinking is that out-of-towners would be more comfortable riding Metra trains with conductors, instead of largely unsupervised CTA runs, where violations like smoking became common during the pandemic.)
In a July 12 news release about the temporary shuttles, Metra thanked Canadian National and fellow freight railroad company CPKC, which dispatches trains on another part of the NCS route, for facilitating the DNC service.
However, three days earlier during the July 9 Illinois Senate Transportation Committee hearing on proposed Chicagoland transit reforms, Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski explained why the shuttles are temporary. He said that CN simply wouldn’t allow Metra to run weekend NCS trains beyond the August 30 deadline.
The O'Hare shuttle operates between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. View the temporary schedule here. The shuttle skips a few of the usual stops, which cuts the scheduled travel time from its normal length of up to 50 minutes, depending on the time of day, to a little over 35.
The first airport bound train each day is scheduled departs Union Station at 7:49 a.m. and arrives at the O'Hare Transfer stop at 8:25 a.m. The train then turns around, leaving the Metra station at 8:45 a.m. and arriving at Union Station at 9:24 a.m.
My experience on the O'Hare shuttle
I took the shuttle from the O’Hare Transfer Station to the Western Avenue stop, 420 N. Artesian Ave, on Monday evening. Western is the closest NCS station to the United Center at about 1.3 miles.
The wayfinding signage still isn’t great, at least from the O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility (OMMF). When you leave the facility, turn right and follow the sidewalk until you see the Metra station. Metra recommends downloading the Ventra app to pay the $3.75 fare in advance, but there’s also a ticket machine at the station house.
When I arrived at the station at 6:11 p.m., a family of five was waiting at Platform 1 (the one closer to OMMF). By the time the shuttle arrived at Platform 2, there were nine passengers, though it turned out that three of them were waiting for the regular NCS outbound train. Two passengers disembarked from the shuttle.
The six passengers heading downtown besides myself were all newcomers to Chicago. The family were Canadian nationals visiting from Calgary, and the other customer was a journalism student from Belgium who will study at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana this fall.
As the two passengers who disembarked from the outbound train headed to the OMMF, the conductor approached the waiting customers and told them they would board from Platform 2. For context most inbound and outbound NCS trains board at Platform 1. As a sign at the station explains, only three trains, one in the morning and two in the afternoon, stop at Platform 2.
"How we we have known that if it wasn’t for you?" the mother asked the conductor.
"That’s why I’m here," the conductor replied.
Since most of the passengers had suitcases, no one was in a particular hurry to cross over to the other platform. But at 6:31 p.m. the conductor told the passengers to cross. Then the train, which has been waiting further down the track, pulled up to Platform 2.
The inbound shuttle we boarded was a three-car train, and two of those rail carriages had power outlets. According to the schedule, the shuttle trip from O’Hare to Union Station takes a little longer than the reverse trip (39 minutes versus 36 minutes.) My train traveled slower on the CN tracks between Antioch to Franklin Park than it did on the Metra-owned portion of the line after Franklin Park.
When I disembarked at the Western Avenue station, I realized that there was no signage pointing riders to actual Western Avenue, a block east. There you can catch CTA routes 49/Western and X49/Western Express. Not that finding the avenue is that difficult – simply walk north from the station to Hubbard Street, turn right and walk towards Western.
CTA services and obstacles
The new Damen Green Line station opened on August 5, just in time for the convention. It is located two blocks north of the west end of the United Center parking lot. The skywalk observation deck provides a decent view of the stadium. When I stopped by on Wednesday afternoon, CTA workers and security guard were a constant presence. I didn't see anything too heavy-handed going on, but as someone who regularly visited Green Line stations further west while writing for Austin Weekly News, it was more security than I was used to.
As previously noted, you can also get to the United Center from the Blue Line's Illinois Medical District station, which has entrances at Damen Avenue, Ogden Avenue and Paulina Street, but it's a longer, less pleasant walk than from Damen Green. Moreover, according to the official Blue Line schedule, an average of one of every three Blue trains doesn’t go west of the UIC-Halsted station, located 1.5 miles east of Damen.
When I stopped by the United Center on Wednesday, some security barriers were already up. The sidewalk on the east side of Damen between Washington and Warren boulevards, where the Greater Union Baptist Church stands, is already been completely closed off.
It's still possible to walk on the other side of Damen Avenue, but the security barriers are blocking the a northbound stop for the CTA's 50 Damen bus near Maypole Avenue, just south of Lake Street. This will be a non-issue once the security perimeter is fully up, but for now, it does require riders trying to catch the northbound bus to walk two blocks north to Lake/Damen or two blocks south to Madison/Damen.
Bikeway disruptions
It's also worth noting that the security perimeter around the United Center will disrupt the eastbound bike lane on Warren, the westbound bikeway on Washington, and bike lanes on Damen and Jackson.
Read Metra's news release on the O'Hare shuttle trains here.
View the temporary North Central Service line schedule, in effect until August 30, here.
Did you appreciate this post? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation, to help keep Streetsblog Chicago's sustainable transportation news and advocacy articles paywall-free.
