Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Transportation

Chicago can be considered one of the prime transportation hubs in America. Much of this status stems from its geographic proximity during a time when the United States was growing quickly in population and area. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, completed in 1848, allowed for transportation around the world with connecting waterways through Chicago all the way to New York and the Atlantic Ocean, west to St. Louis, and south to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Chicago then became one of the largest grain and lumber ports in the world, with grain being sent to more established populations and lumber being sent to the forest-starved prairies where new settlers needed to build. Even today, Chicago's importance in global distribution remains, as it is the third largest inter-modal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore.

Related Topics:
Illinois and Michigan Canal - 1848 - Atlantic Ocean - St. Louis - New Orleans - Gulf of Mexico - Hong Kong - Singapore

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Public transportation

The Chicago Transit Authority, or CTA, operates the second largest public transportation system in the United States (to New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and covers the City of Chicago and 40 surrounding suburbs. The CTA operates 24 hours a day and, on an average weekday, 1.4 million rides are taken on the CTA.

Related Topics:
Chicago Transit Authority - United States - Metropolitan Transportation Authority

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CTA has approximately 2,000 buses that operate over 152 routes and 2,273 route miles. Buses provide about 1 million passenger trips a day and serve more than 12,000 posted bus stops. CTA's 1,190 rapid transit cars operate over seven routes and 222 miles of track. CTA trains provide about 500,000 customer trips each day and serve 144 stations in Chicago, Evanston, Skokie, Wilmette, Rosemont, Forest Park, Oak Park and Cicero.

Related Topics:
Evanston - Skokie - Wilmette - Rosemont - Forest Park - Oak Park - Cicero

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Chicago is one of the few cities in the world that provides rapid transit service to two major airports. From the downtown area the CTA's Blue Line takes customers to O'Hare International Airport in about 40 minutes and the Orange Line takes customers to Midway Airport in about 30 minutes from the loop.

Related Topics:
Rapid transit service - Airports - Blue Line - O'Hare International Airport - Orange Line - Midway Airport

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Metra operates commuter rail service at over 200 stations in Chicago and it's suburbs.

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Pace operates a primarily-suburban bus service that also offers some routes into Chicago.

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Street system and highways

The streets of Chicago primarily follow the grid system established by the Chicago City Council in 1908 and implemented on September 1, 1909. The baselines for numbering streets and buildings are State Street (east-west numbering) and Madison (north-south numbering). Street numbers begin at "1" at the baselines and run numerically in directions indicated to the city limits. Letters, N,S,E and W indicate directions.

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The City of Chicago is divided into one-mile sections which contain eight blocks to the mile (though the street grid is not entirely uniform). Each block's addresses occupy a 100-number range, so a range of 800 address numbers covers approximately one mile. There are three exceptions to the 800-to-a-mile rule: Madison (the north-south zero point) to Roosevelt at 1200 south is one mile, as is Roosevelt to Cermak at 2200 south, and Cermak to 31st Street (3100 south). The regular 800-per-mile range resumes south of 31st Street so that 39th Street (3900 south) is one mile south of 31st Street. Even-numbered addresses are on the north and west sides of streets; odd-numbered address are on the south and east sides.

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Seven interstate highways run through Chicago. Segments that link to the city center are named after influential politicians, and traffic reports tend to use the names rather than interstate numbers. The named interstate segments are the Kennedy Expressway (I-90 From the 'Loop' to O'Hare International Airport), Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94, From South of the 'Circle Interchange' to the I-57 Split), Stevenson Expressway (I-55), Edens Expressway (I-94), Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), and the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). Interstate 57 is not named.

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Airports

In the 20th century, Chicago held on to its status as a transportation hub with the building of three airports: O'Hare International Airport, Midway Airport, and Meigs Field. Meigs Field, which was closed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in a nighttime coup, was a relatively small airstrip but unique because of its proximity to Chicago's downtown, and as an airstrip for private planes it was one of the busiest in the world. Northerly Island, the land on which Meigs sat, reverted to its original status as parkland, and is now a park and nature center. In the 21st century, Chicago is working toward maintaining its status as a U.S. and international transportation hub by working to expand O'Hare International Airport. Additionally, a new airport has been proposed for Peotone, Illinois, and the city is working toward expanding its ties with the Gary/Chicago International Airport in Gary, Indiana.

Related Topics:
O'Hare International Airport - Midway Airport - Meigs Field - Richard M. Daley - Peotone, Illinois - Gary/Chicago International Airport - Gary, Indiana

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Related topics

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• Taxis of Chicago
• Chicago Pedway
• Chicago City Railway
• Bicycling in Chicago
• Union Station
• Multilevel streets in Chicago
• Rail stations of Chicago