Civic - Services - Transport - Chicago, Illinois, USA
Chicago offers a variety of transit options
- Active: Active Transportation Alliance; supports bicycling, walking, and public transit so that these forms of transport are safe, convenient, and fun
- Divvy: bike sharing system; bikes at a network of docking stations throughout Chicago; thousands of bikes available; program of the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT),
- Bike Station: McDonald's Cycle Center; in Millennium Park; membership gets you 24-hour a day secure bike parking, clean showers and lockers, bike sharing, 10% off bike repairs and items
- Car Free: Possible in Chicago; with great walkability and extensive transit systems, you could easily live without a car in Chicago
- Car Sharing: Avoid owning a car; be car-free as much as possible, but keep the idea that you can rent or borrow a car only when you need it--for a big project or trip to far-out areas, for example
- CTA: Chicago Transit Authority; public transportation system; covers the City of Chicago and 40 surrounding suburbs; buses and trains; second largest transit system in the USA
- Metra: Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation; trains covering Chicago and suburbs in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry and Kane counties; service north to Kenosha, Wisconsin; major Chicago stations include Union Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center, Millennium Station, and LaSalle Street Station
- Pace: Suburban transit; Chicago's suburbs
- RTA: Regional Transportation Authority; financial oversight and regional planning body for the three public transit operators in northeastern Illinois: the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban bus
- CDOT: Chicago Department of Transportation; responsible for city street, alley and sidewalk reconstruction, bridge maintenance, public way inspections and permits, traffic services, and planter and median maintenance; look for details here about free summer trolleys in the downtown area
- Complete Streets: Chicago Complete Streets; streets that meet the needs of pedestrians, transit users, bicyclists, and motorists
- Port: Port of Chicago; Illinois International Port District
- Amtrak: Amtrak passenger train service; from Chicago's Union Station at Canal and Adams; train service to destinations around the region and USA; see photo
- Union St: Union Station; multi-modal transit station in downtown Chicago just west of the Chicago River and Sears Tower; includes rail Amtrak, Metra, as well as regional bus (Megabus, Van Galder) and local CTA bus
- Pedway: Downtown Pedestrian Walkway System
- Water Taxi: Chicago Water Taxi
- Greyhound: National, commercial bus transit company; offers connections from Chicago to the United States, Canada, and Mexico
- GotoBus: Bus reservation system for tours; buses connecting many cities and tour buses in Chicago
- Megabus: Bus system based in Chicago; Chicago Union Station to Minneapolis/St Paul, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, and Detroit; ticket sales are online and by reservations only on Web site
- Van Galder: Van Galder Bus; commercial bus transit company offering scheduled service between Chicago downtown and O'Hare and Midway airports; service to suburbs as well as to Madison, Wisconsin
- Tollway: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
- Airports: Chicago Department of Aviation; information on Chicago's major airports, Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport; links to other information sites
- O'Hare: Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD); "busiest airport in the world" (2002)
- Midway: Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
- GYY: Gary/Chicago International Airport (Gary, Indiana)
- MKE: General Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); the largest airport in Wisconsin is less than 60 km north of Chicagoland's northern suburbs; there is Amtrak rail service direct from Chicago's downtown Union Station via a stop in Glenview, IL to a rail station at MKE airport; the MKE airport provides non-stop service on airlines to major cities
- GCM Corridor: Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee Corridor; information about and near real-time graphics depicting traffic in the Chicago area and south to Chicago and Gary, Indiana. Provided as an effort of the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee Priority Corridor Partners: Illinois Department of Transportation, Indiana Department of Transportation, and Wisconsin Department of Transportation
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