Chicago Transportation Tips by m-gem

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: The signage at the O'Hare El stop is very poor. You have a bunch of confused new arrivals, many who aren't good at English, and even for someone like me, an American who's travelled many different subway systems, I couldn't figure out what type of ticket I needed (there was a sign explaining things more, but it was inexplicably placed down the stairs towards the train, not up by the ticket machines). Where I was getting stuck was assuming that there were zones and I didn't know how many zones it was to the center. As it was, Chicago's system isn't divided into zones, it's just a flat cost of $1.75 per ride (as of mid 2005). So you can put at least $1.75 onto a transport ticket, which can then be added to again once you're in town. Or you can then try to purchase a multi-day pass, which we planned to do, but the tourist center near Millennium Park was out of them, and we didn't use the El that much anyway, so the $10 we put on our cards was more than enough for our week in town (much less than the $18 5-day pass). I had more than $2 on my card when we left, so I gave my card to a guy arriving at the airport to save him from having to figure out the machines.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: There are various free trolleys that run around Chicago, I think mainly in the summer. They fill in some of the gaps that the El leaves, making it a bit easier to get to some of the touristy areas. Each one spreads out from the Loop to some area that people usually want to visit, like the Mag Mile, or the area with the aquarium and natural history museum. You can pick up a map with details at all tourist info centers. They can be quite packed, esp at peak hours, and the buses aren't air conditioned, but they can still be fun thanks to the snarky, humourous commentary from the driver (who are also very helpful in getting you where you want to go).

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