17 ms·
As the article notes - the Blue Line currently runs from the Loop directly to Ohare in about 40 minutes for $5 (though realistically more like 50 minutes). I am
by tqi 8y ago
As the article notes - the Blue Line currently runs from the Loop directly to Ohare in about 40 minutes for $5 (though realistically more like 50 minutes). I am not sure how much more I would be willing to pay for the trip to only take 20 minutes... $10 at most?
- crisdux 8y agoBusiness travelers would pay a lot more than $10. They already do pay a lot more to avoid taking the train. During peak times the Blue Line to Ohare takes more than 40 minutes. Also the ride is fairly unpleasant.
- bunderbunder 8y agoNitpick: Loop to O'Hare is only $2.50. It's just the return trip that costs $5. I'd probably keep using the El for my own purposes, but I could see business travelers liking this option. They're already taking cabs, which charge more like $30 or $40 to get downtown (IIRC) and can probably take as much as an hour to make the trip if traffic is bad.
- tqi 8y agoFair point. It just seems like a very of a narrow market for high speed public transit over such a short distance. A large % of the travel time to O'Hare is not spent on the train/in a cab. As a former consultant, I agree that business travelers would be willing to pay the cost whatever it was. However unless my hotel/office was right near a stop or traffic was unusually bad, I think it would take less time to get a cab from wherever I happened to be than to schlep over to the stop, wait for a train to arrive, take the train, and then walk all the way over to the terminal.