Today I took the CTA orange line from Midway Airpirt to down town hotels. The signage was fairly well marked near airport exit. The walk is a long one and all movements between floors offers accessible elevators, Stairs and up escalators. Easy access to enter the trains. Maps posted above entry and exit doors show the stops with conductor telling stops Train is fairly clean, someone came to clean while we waited. No restrooms in board. Two small shops sell beverages and snacks prior to going thru the turnstile. Ticket purchase is easy for one time or multiple uses with small fee displayed. Great art display on Sorcial Olympics and a close up Of veterans that covers all genders and races I am very pleased to get downtown in about 30 minutes and a 0.4 mile walk to hotel The announcer let us know of slight delay due to construction

The first ‘L’- CTA (not the great rock band) began revenue service on June 6, 1892, when a steam locomotive pulling four wooden coaches and carrying more than a couple of dozen people. Today, they carry over 1.275M yearly above city streets- a great way to get around while seeing the sites. It’s the only way to travel!

As someone who rides the both the train and bus the red line is by far the worst!!!! Let’s start with there’s always some sort of delay from “mechanical” issues, to signal clearance, to people playing on the train, and of course my favorite people fighting on the train!!!!! We got blood, trash, urine and feces on the floor or on the seats! That’s insane don’t you think. Being disturbed by people walking from cart to cart selling “loose squares (cigarettes) and weed”…. I’m watching CTA employees in their uniform buy these things. The loud music being played and of course the smoking needs to stop!!!!

I used CTA blue line to get downtown from ORD. It turned out to be the most time- and cost-effective option when you factor in the terrible traffic that you can watch from the train window. One difficulty was trying to pay for fare with a credit card. The machines are very fussy about credit card scanning. They also accept only exact change if you pay cash. the return trip wasn't quite perfect, because the train was delayed, but fortunately I had budgeted extra time. All in all a fairly user-friendly but not quite perfect travel experience.

I used the Ventra app on my iPhone when visiting Michigan Avenue for a couple of days. It was $5 per day for unlimited use of both buses and trains, less if you want to pay per-use. Your day-pass starts upon first use, not when you buy it. All that is great, but my experience unfortunately fit the underwhelming stereotype of public transportation. If taking the train to Midway Airport, make sure you have your walking shoes on and can stand for a long time.