Reach your local destination for less than your cheap airfare
Midway Airport, Chicago’s No. 2 flight facility, is served mostly by discount domestic airlines. You don’t want your ground transportation to cost more than your bargain airfare, do you? Use this guide to compare inexpensive transportation options.
The buddy system
This option is free: Have someone pick you up at the Chicago Transit Authority’s Midway L station at 59th Street and Cicero Avenue, near the edge of the airport. The cutely named Kiss N’ Ride, a quick drop off/pick up point, bypasses congested airport traffic.
Taking the L downtown
Chicago Transit Authority Orange Line L trains leave the Midway station every few minutes from 4:35 a.m.-11:21 p.m. Monday through Saturday; service begins at 7 a.m. on Sundays and holidays. Scheduled travel time to the Loop is approximately 30 minutes. Add another 10 minutes to hike from the terminal to the station.
Follow the “Trains to the City”‘ signs and exit the terminal through door M-1. Take the stairs, elevator or escalator up to the pedestrian skybridge. Prepare yourself for a long walk through a dull corridor only partially equipped with moving sidewalks. At the end of the skybridge, go down the stairs, elevator or escalator to the L station ticket platform.
You’ll need crisp, small bills or coins to buy your ticket from a machine. CTA customer assistants do not sell tickets or make change (and their advice is free). Basic fare is $1.50 plus 30 cents if you’ll need to transfer to another line. If you plan to travel by bus, L or subway again consider purchasing an unlimited-ride visitor pass. Available at both airports and at Chicago’s major attractions, the cost is $5 for one day, $9 for 2 days, $12 for three days and $18 for five days.
For details about Chicagoland public transportation, call the CTA at 888-YOUR CTA (888-968-7282).
Rental car companies
Shuttle buses depart for off-site car rental lots every few minutes from door M-12. The one-half mile ride can take 5-20 minutes or longer due to construction, fender benders and heavy commuter traffic on side-streets.
The following car rental companies operate at Midway: Alamo, 800-327-9633; Avis, 800-831-2847; Budget, 800-527-0700; Dollar, 800-800-4000; Enterprise, 800-736-8222; Hertz, 800-654-3131; National, 800-227-7368; and Thrifty, 800-367-2277.
Hotel, McCormick Place vans
Many hotels and motels near Midway provide complimentary shuttle service from the airport. Stop by the courtesy phone bank near the Southwest Airlines counter to make a reservation.
Continental Air Transport’s Airport Express vans leave from door M-2 every 15 minutes for McCormick Place and downtown hotels from 6 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily. The cost is $11 each way, $20 round trip; reservations not required. Call Continental at 312-454-7800.
Taxicabs
The person sitting in the booth near door M-5 occasionally stepping outside to yell at cabbies is a Department of Aviation employee called a starter. The starter answers passengers’ questions about cab service, estimates fares and keeps things running smoothly. If you have a complaint about a starter or city cab company, call the Chicago Department of Consumer Services at 312-744-9400.
A trip downtown costs between $17-$25 depending upon distance and delays. Fares within Chicago are regulated by the City at $1.60 to begin the ride, $1.40 for each additional mile, $1 airport tax, 50 cents for each additional passenger between the ages of 12 and 64, 20 cents for every 45 seconds waiting time and road and bridge tolls. There is no charge to transport luggage or to pay by credit card.
For trips over five miles, negotiate the fare. If you and the cabby agree on a flat rate before your ride begins (the starter can give you an estimate), you can sit back and ignore the ticking meter. Or tell the starter you want a “shared ride.” With this special rate, you and other passengers going downtown pay just $10 each.
And for trips to the suburbs, don’t wait in the City of Chicago taxicab line outside door M-5. Call a suburban cab: Three-O-Three Cab, 773-763-0303; American Taxi, 847-255-9600; and Blue Cab, 708-383-2121 are popular companies. Rates charged by suburban companies vary, but they’re usually cheaper than the 1 1/2 meter rate legally charged by Chicago cabs to drive beyond city limits.
Limousines
Hey, big shot! You want to ride around in a fancy chauffeured limo with all that cash you saved on airfare? Well, this is MDW not ORD — nothing elegant here. Consult the smudged business cards tacked to the cork bulletin board near the hotel courtesy phones. Fares to the Loop vary from $29-$50 or more.
Here are a few limo companies that operate from Midway: A & J Limousine Service, 800-910-7000; Rush Limo, 888-227-7874; and U.S. Cars Inc. Executive Sedan Service, 888-227-7187. All companies suggest reservations.
From Midway to O’Hare
There are three ways to get to O’Hare Airport, located about 20 miles north: taxicabs, Omega Airport Shuttle and the L. Allow about two hours for the trip. Cabs charge up to $50 and are available at all times. Omega Airport Shuttle (773-483-6634) makes several scheduled trips each day; the cost is $16. At $1.50, the L is the cheapest option: Take the Orange Line downtown to the Clark and Lake Streets station and transfer for free to the O’Hare Blue Line.
Off to school
Omega Airport Shuttle offers frequent daily service from Midway to the University of Chicago for $11; call Omega at 773-483-6634. For scheduled service to Illinois State University and Bradley University, call Peoria Charter Coach at 800-448-0572. Midwest Transit serves the University of Wisconsin at Madison twice daily; call 800-446-8835. There is no service to Great Lakes Naval Base except through O’Hare.
Downstate and out-of-state
If your destination is in Indiana, Wisconsin or Downstate Illinois, call one of the following regional bus companies: United Limo to Milwaukee, 800-833-5555; Tri-State Coach to Indiana, 800-248-8747; or Peoria Charter Coach to Downstate Illinois, 800-448-0572.
Pardon our dust
Midway Airport is undergoing a $760 million overhaul. The Chicago Midway Airport Terminal Development Program involves moving a stretch of busy Cicero Avenue, tearing down the 50-year-old airport terminal, building a larger split-level terminal, digging an underground baggage tunnel, relocating runways and constructing a six-level parking garage. Until the project is completed some time during 2003, expect to be delayed and confused. For the latest news on construction in and around Midway, call the Midway Airport construction hotline (888-463-6692) or tune in to radio 800 AM for traffic conditions.
In any event, expect slow going between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3 and 6:30 p.m. weekdays, and whenever it rains.
