Quote:
Originally Posted by k1052
A theoretical airport express that will command a premium will not use the O'Hare transfer station and make everybody haul over to the ATS, wait for it, then take the ride to terminals. Any express station will surely be walkable from the main terminal complex.
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Eventually. But a new tunnel connection between the existing Metra r-o-w and the terminals could cost more than the rest of the line put together, and in any event would probably be completed years later, especially since T2 v2.0 would have to be designed first and some degree of construction begun. In contrast, setting up an interim phase where an airport express runs to the O'Hare Transfer Station could be done nearly overnight (though gradually shrinking trip time to 20 minutes will take a fair amount of capital expenditure). A starter system like that would mean more realistic, phased capital investment, allowing the system to prove itself slowly as further phases are planned.
Remember, the ATS is getting new rolling stock, and with the heavy car rental usage coming up, frequency will be improved. There further could be some throughput benefit if they completed the loop where T1, instead of being a turnaround station, is connected via the north side back towards T5.
I think the much bigger determinative factor in airport express success is convenience of the downtown terminal. Block 37 is a terrible idea I think; it's got to be in the west loop, where an influx of taxis can be handled, and the office center of gravity has moved. A second station in River West or slightly upriver, like around Finkl, would be a good destination for people taking private cars from nearby neighborhoods like River North, Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, etc. (in the case where MD-W / CSX alignments are not chosen); otherwise it's doubtful those people would drive backwards down to Union or Ogilvie.
Even if an airport express were $30 and took 30 minutes, that's still cheaper than a taxi, and you know exactly when it arrives, compared to the nail-biting vagaries of the increasingly congested Kennedy -- and also increasingly congested I-190 (it's hard to believe but at 6am on a Monday there is already a traffic jam there, worsened further by traffic not going to the airport but going onto I-294 southbound). Grabbing market share from taxi/uber should be easy; if not too pricey it also could grab market share from the family-member-giving-you-a-ride segment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by k1052
Yes and a cell lot.
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A cell lot need not be near the ATS (or this parking structure); in fact, it would probably be better to locate it far away so as to distribute vehicle congestion across Bessie Coleman and Mannheim.