Best cab, O'hare to Union Station (shortest time)

I%26#39;ll be arriving from Seattle at 5PM Dec 13th. I need to catch the 5:55

train, leaving UNION Station. (yes I know that%26#39;s close). I won%26#39;t have

checked baggage, so that will help.

Can I make it in time? Which cab company is fastest and most

reliable (and least likely to gouge me) ?

Any traffic going INTO the city at that time?

I checked the airport shuttle service and the Blue line. Both

of them would arrive too late. :-(

So I need to spend the big bucks and take a cab. If I%26#39;m going to spend the money, then I wnat to %26#39;make sure%26#39; I%26#39;ll get there in time.

is it possible?

thanks

Bill

Best cab, O'hare to Union Station (shortest time)

To be honest, there%26#39;s a 99.9% chance that you won%26#39;t make it. Assuming your plane arrives on time (or even a little early) and you were the first one off the plane, it%26#39;s going to take you a minimum of 10 minutes to get to the cab line outside of baggage claim.

Then assuming there%26#39;s nobody in the cab line in front of you and you caught the first cab in line - you%26#39;re arriving at the peak of rush hour here - you%26#39;ll never make it to Union Station in 45 minutes or less.

You%26#39;re best bet is that Amtrak is running late. You might need to come up with a backup plan.

Best cab, O'hare to Union Station (shortest time)

BTW - it%26#39;s not a matter of which cab company is the fastest etc. There%26#39;s only one expressway that goes from ORD to downtown. All Chicago cabs run on the same fare meter system. At that time of day, all cabs and limos will be sitting in the same traffic on the same expressway.

The advantage of a limo over a cab is that a limo doesn%26#39;t have a meter running while your sitting in traffic. A limo will cost you more than a cab. But it won%26#39;t get you there any faster.

You will be lucky to leave O%26#39;Hare by 5:55.

You need a new plan.

I agree with Dave148. Assuming there are no delays landing, I couldn%26#39;t see a trip downtown at 5 pm on a workday in under 45 minutes. Since the forecast is for rain or rain/snow on Wednesday, it%26#39;s very possible that your flight will be delayed.

The fastest way at that time of day would be the Blue Line as it wouldn%26#39;t be delayed by traffic, but it%26#39;s still very optimistic to make the trip from ORD through the loop and out to Union Station (Clinton Street) in 45 minutes.

I%26#39;m assuming you%26#39;re connecting to the Illinois Zephyr as it%26#39;s Amtrak%26#39;s only departure at 5:55 and the last train of the day on that route. If you do miss your train, Hertz has a rental counter in Union Station however, it closes at 6 pm on weeknights. Hertz, Avis and Enterprise have locations in the loop that are open until 7 pm or later.

I don%26#39;t even think you will make it with a hired car. Because you have to call them in advance and it takes them a few minutes to pull around.

I don%26#39;t even think you will make it with a hired car. Because you have to call them in advance and it takes them a few minutes to pull around.

A helicopter might work....

Friday nights, traffic INTO the city is often WORSE than traffic OUT.

The downside of a downtown with lots to do .....

Ok, So I guess the consensus is, I%26#39;m out of luck :-(

I thought that riding INTO the city at rush hour would be easier than LEAVING the city at the same time. I guess people go both directions at the same time of day? That seems different than the other big cities I%26#39;ve visited here in the west (San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, etc). I was hoping that riding toward downtown would be OK. Bummer.

Well ok, then I%26#39;ll have to rethink this strategy. My main problem is that all the cheap flights into Chicago) arrive AFTER 6PM (thus missing the last train out of town). I don%26#39;t want to spend the night (and pay the high cost of a motel room just to catch the train the next day). Hmmmmm. Well it%26#39;s back the online travel sites.

Thanks all. Much appreciated. :-)

Bill

Yep. In Chicago, rush hour traffic goes in both directions.

If you could arrange to fly in to Midway (MDW), it might be easier. It%26#39;s a bit shorter drive (and less traffic) to downtown and you can take the CTA orange line train from there.

make up techniques

ittwit