Chicago Public Transportation compared to other cities (Lincoln, Manhattan: student loans, home)

[A-NYCer]

So im a recent college graduate looking into moving to Chicago at some point, but one of my main concerns is the public transportation. I currently live in NYC, so I have had the luxury of going to any corner of any boro at almost ant time of the day my entire life. I have never owned a car, and only got my license just recently for emergencies, but I honestly don't feel safe behind the wheel of a car, and a car would be a waste for me here in NYC anyway. So im curious what the real extent of the CTA is. Based off the maps i have looked through, there seems to be a good amount of coverage of trains around the city, and the buses seem to get most other empty spots. But from what I have read here, it seems people don't utilize the system as much as a New Yorker and are more comfortable driving.

Some quick questions.
How often to trains and buses run?
Do they become extremely infrequent between a certain time? (i.e. 12am-5am)
Are they generally crowded during rush hours?
If I lived in an area like say Hyde Park, would it be an issue commuting to Downtown everyday?

Like I said im from NY. I live in Queens, and everyday my average commute to school/work has been about 1.15 minutes on a busy bus/train so really anything under an hour I would actually consider a short commute for what I've been used to my whole life. Any insight you can give on the life of a commuter would be great.

[Manigault]

Originally Posted by A-NYCer

Some quick questions.
How often to trains and buses run?

Check the schedule using bus or train tracker via the internet on your cell phone. During rush hour the buses and trains come frequently.

Originally Posted by A-NYCer

Do they become extremely infrequent between a certain time? (i.e. 12am-5am)

It depends on the route. Few buses run all night but the trains do. The #6 express to Hyde Park stops about 1 am.

Originally Posted by A-NYCer

Are they generally crowded during rush hours?

Yes, but one can get a seat on some lines to down town from Hyde Park.

Originally Posted by A-NYCer

If I lived in an area like say Hyde Park, would it be an issue commuting to Downtown everyday?

No. Public transit is better in Chicago in that the bus signs explain the bus route not just identify it! Also, transfers are available in Chicago but not (to my memory) in NYC. What's worse is the third rail for the trains. It is covered in NYC but not in Chicago and thus vulnerable to ice storms.

My commute from Hyde Park to downtown averages 40 minutes each way and I always get a seat. YRMV

[Chicago60614]

Rush hour trains run every 3-4 minutes on the busy blue, red, brown lines and maybe every 5-6 minutes on the others. Trains are normally packed during rush hour. Many times I can't get on the first one. Off peak is maybe every 7-12 minutes depending on the line, with red and blue about every 15 from midnight to 4am. Buses run often and blanket the city as well as run express along the lakefront where many new people move to and is the densest area of the city. Metra serves Hyde Park. It's the suburban system with about 320,000 rides a day. Doesn't have many stops on north side of actual city, but has hundreds in the suburbs and south side of city.

I could easily afford a new car but haven't bothered with one in almost 10 years now. If you work downtown and live in a lakefront neighborhood or along a train line you can easily go without a car.

[chet everett]

Assuming you need to ride transit between 12am and 5am I would strongly recommend sticking to someplace with very good connections on the Blue line to O'Hare or the northside Red line.

CTA has been cutting back service to other areas.

[JBVirtuoso]

I have found that if your goal is to get downtown to work and then back home, the CTA will be great for you. It's the overnight hours where it leaves a lot to be desired. During rush hours, the service is quite frequent and convenient, and while it will be crowded, it will still get you there in an orderly fashion.

But after midnight or so, there's really very little CTA service. The red and blue lines have infrequent service during the overnight hours, and there are a few bus lines that do as well. But most of the CTA shuts down by that hour. For Hyde Park, for instance, the only transit between 1 and 5 am is to take the red line to Garfield and wait for the Garfield bus (#55) in the hood, or to take the Cottage Grove bus (#4) from downtown. Since I don't find either option particularly safe or convenient, I normally try to get back before the good express buses stop running, or I'll cough up $15 for a cab from the South Loop.

If 24-hour transit is important to you, there are better areas than Hyde Park. Take a look at this page, and look at the drop-down list of routes. Any that have "OWL" next to them are all-night bus routes. As has been mentioned earlier, the red and blue line trains also run all night.

As an aside, the buses in Chicago are a much more important part of transit than they are in New York, where buses can (and should) be easily avoided. That said, riding the bus in Chicago is a much more pleasant experience, as it doesn't take 10 years to go 10 blocks.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

...
As an aside, the buses in Chicago are a much more important part of transit than they are in New York, where buses can (and should) be easily avoided. That said, riding the bus in Chicago is a much more pleasant experience, as it doesn't take 10 years to go 10 blocks.

Buses in Chicago are a lot better than the ones in New York for the most part. They're more integral to the system, and in my opinion they're just much better than the ones I've ridden in New York. Of course New York's subway beats Chicago in scope by a wide margin, but at least when it comes to buses, I think Chicago more than holds its own against New York.

I've lived in Chicago for most of 17 years and have never had a commute over 45 minutes and I've lived from Rogers Park to Lincoln Square to the West Loop to Logan Square. Keeping it under 75 minutes shouldn't be a problem at all, especially if you find a job in/near the Loop.

[Golden Camel]

This brochure (pdf) contains a map of all of the available Owl (overnight) Service. Except near the lake, it is very sparse.

The Red Line runs every 15 minutes or less all night.
The Blue Line runs from 15 to 30 minutes all night. (Trains leave the two terminals 30 minutes apart between 1:30 am and 3:00 am.)
It is CTA policy to run the few bus lines that have Owl Service at 30 minute intervals during the night.

Many bus lines start shutting down as early as 10:00 pm weekdays and even earlier on weekends. (Of course, there are some rush-hour only bus lines.) The CTA seems to favor early-morning riders as many of these lines tend to start up quite early in the morning (between 4:00 and 5:00 am).

You just have to check the individual bus and train schedules to see when they are running.

Let me also point out that while it is good to live near a bus or train that runs all night, that doesn't help a lot if wherever you are going in the middle of the night doesn't also have a bus or train running near it. And even if both your home and your destination both have 24 bus/train routes, if it is not the same bus/train route, you may have to wait up to 29 minutes on a dark street corner to make a transfer.

[A-NYCer]

Thanks for the info guys.
I would basically be working a general 9-5, but I mainly ask for the late night service because I usually go out here in NYC. And if I'm heading home at 1 or 2 in the morning, I would have no issue getting from any point in the city to my area of Queens. So I wouldn't want to end up stuck unable to get home in Chicago, but seems like It would be ok with some wait time and depending on which area I am located. Hyde Park was used as an example just because it seems to be one of the farther out areas yet still part of the major CTA train and bus routes.

In NY the buses are pretty essential in the outer boros especially Bronx and Queens where the trains dont go to most of the boro. In Manhattan I still consider bus service useless with a few areas being exceptions.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by A-NYCer

Thanks for the info guys.
I would basically be working a general 9-5, but I mainly ask for the late night service because I usually go out here in NYC. And if I'm heading home at 1 or 2 in the morning,

At 1 or 2 in the morning it's not hard to get home from most places. At 3 or 4, though, you probably want to live on the Red or Blue line and go out in areas along whichever line you live on. Of course, for the premium you might pay to live in certain areas, you could also afford to take cabs a couple nights per week with the money you might save living elsewhere.

[A-NYCer]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

At 1 or 2 in the morning it's not hard to get home from most places. At 3 or 4, though, you probably want to live on the Red or Blue line and go out in areas along whichever line you live on. Of course, for the premium you might pay to live in certain areas, you could also afford to take cabs a couple nights per week with the money you might save living elsewhere.

Cabs would usually be my last resort. Especially considering I would already be paying for student loans, housing food etc. Ive probably taken a cab in NYC 5 times max in my life.
But I would assume taxi service isn't up to par with the frequency that it is in New York?