Airport to Downtown

How does one get from the airport to the city buses right outside the airport? I haven't seen a big city airport that has pedestrian access from the outside. I guess you're saying Toronto, unlike the airports I've been to, makes it possible to walk to and from the airport and the rest of the world.

Chicago's Midway Airport CAN be accessed from the street. There's a transit center for CTA rail and CTA and PACE (local suburban) buses and one can walk to the terminal which is on the east side of Cicero Ave. Security and the airline gates are on the west side of Cicero Ave and are reached via a skyway. A local resident (not using rail or bus) can access the airport terminal by foot as well.

How does one get from the airport to the city buses right outside the airport? I haven't seen a big city airport that has pedestrian access from the outside. I guess you're saying Toronto, unlike the airports I've been to, makes it possible to walk to and from the airport and the rest of the world.

Terminals are anywhere from 200-500 meters (about 400-1000 feet) to Airport Road where there are many airport hotels. The Hilton is literally right across the street. I have never tried walking it so not sure if its possible but there are many routes within the airport as well. You can clearly see the terminal from the map links below .

There is also a shuttle train which links the terminals and a remote discount parking lot at Viscount St near American Drive. Its then about a 1 block walk to Airport Rd to catch those local buses. I think the train is out of service until summer though and has been replaced with shuttle buses.

http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTExNmI ... =17&q1=yyz

http://gtaa.com/local/images/en/ParkingRRL.jpg

Thanks. Shows how many airports I've been to recently. Philly, Newark, JFK, Houston. None of them, Philly especially, looked like they had any way to walk into or out of, only access I noticed was via some kind of pedestrian unfriendly road or rail.
I have ridden the train to Chicago Midway, O'hare, Atlanta and Cleveland airports, but more than 10 years ago, and don't remember clearly where the pedestrian access to the outside world was, if any.

Tommy Meehan wrote:I've never had occasion to fly in or out of Philadelphia, but I keep forgetting to at least ride the line. Didn't Septa have a tie-in at one point with US Airways, once-upon-a-time Philly's biggest air carrier??

One quibble with the Orange Line to Midway. It's a fairly long walk from train to air terminals. Partly through a somewhat intimidating indoor parking area too. The brightly painted crosswalk lines don't do much to slow some drivers down. A people-mover automated walkway does provide some relief, though.

Also the Orange Line itself provides a great ride. It reminds me of PATH Journal Square-Harrison since part of the line goes right through rail freight yards. Great way to see some freight trackage. One trip we passed an outbound METRA Heritage Corridor train to Joliet. The subway train passed the Heritage train like it was standing still! (Actually it might've been.)

When the Midway Orange Line was built, I called it "almost to the airport". The EL station was built close to the BRC main line. It will be impossible to build a Metra commuter station there. The BRC crosses 55th, 59th, 63rd streets at grade. (Take your chance with street parking just to the E of there.) Not sure what the old neighborhood is like.

The Metra train headed WB may have been near Ashland? This may be near Ash crossing where the track crosses a branch of the Chicago river at a speed of 10mph. The Orange Line uses abandoned ROW on a new bridge to travel at track speed.
Near Archer-Western is the infamous Brighton Crossing. There, every train had to Stop & wait for a signal from the tender to be told to go. This practice may have been in effect for over a century till the junction finally was automated a few years ago. You could get a burger at BK on the NW corner & watch the action.

GWoodle wrote:You could get a burger at BK on the NW corner & watch the action.

That must be the BK at the left side of this picture and the right side of this one.

I wish I had known about Brighton Crossing when I made that trip. It looks like it must be visible from the Orange Line at that location, looking out the other side of the train from the first picture.

From the 2nd picture you can see the freight line in the background a few feet away. The Orange Line curves around the BK & the Walsh Construction Co. The Jewel store in the 1st picture is close to the Archer/35th station. If it's still there, the Brighton Amtrak shop s/b nearby. Old pictures of the junction show the old shack before it was torn down.

your best bet may be to find 1980's or earlier video of hot junctions in Chicago.

Looks like USA Today may be reading this forum:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industrie ... nter_N.htm

GWoodle wrote: Near Archer-Western is the infamous Brighton Crossing. There, every train had to Stop & wait for a signal from the tender to be told to go. This practice may have been in effect for over a century till the junction finally was automated a few years ago. You could get a burger at BK on the NW corner & watch the action.

Wow, that's a long wait if you were able to jump off the train, get a burger and jump back on before the train moved.

Today's New York Times has an article favorable for mass transit airport transfers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/busin ... nsfer.html

Brief passage:

• Getting to the airport on the outskirts of town used to be a simple proposition — catch a taxi, even if it meant sitting in traffic.
  
  But in recent years, the number of options has grown, especially at some of the biggest airports, with direct trains and shared-ride services. The additional options are cheaper and also more reliable, in many cases, if there is a lot of traffic on the highways.
  
  Shared-ride transfers offered by companies like SuperShuttle in the United States and Go Airport Shuttle, which operates in North America and Britain, can be more time-consuming than a taxi or limousine ride, but are significantly less expensive. And fast trains — like the Heathrow and Gatwick Express trains in London and AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark in the New York area — are less expensive than a taxi and often faster.

There is some possibility at this time, I may within the next few weeks have occasion to fly a KORD-KJFK-KACK and return itinerary. Outbound there would be close to a three hour layovwer at JFK. During that layover, I just might leave the secured zone and take a joyride on Airtrain. It sure would beat nibbling and imbibing @ rip off prices. Incidentially I find it interesting how the prices of anything that are jacked up anywhere in an airport, are jacked even more on the other side of security.

3 hours is certainly enough time to ride around on the Air Train. You can ride between terminals and around the airport without charge. If you want to goto Jamaica or Howard Beach stations and exit though there is a $5 exit fee and another $5 entry fee. I dont think you would have enough time to go into Manhattan and back. The ride to Jamaica from Terminal 1 is a little under 20 mins and is only about 10 mins from Terminal 8.

Mr. Drew, I have revised my itinerary to Nantucket: outward it is now 23AUG ORD-B6-BOS-9K-ACK and a return 25AUG ACK-B6-JFK-B6-ORD. Therefore no three hour layover at JFK and hence no chance to sample AirTrain.

Probably just as well; thought of 'Taxi's waitin' @ 430AM" was a little daunting.

Several years back, work took me to St Louis. I was to stay at the Adam's Mark Hotel, which I understood had a frequent van to the airport. Wrong. So I ended up taking a free-lance van to the hotel, cost me $23. After my meetings I thought I'd check out the light rail connection. I easily found it, cost $1. When I got home and was going over my trip expenses with the finance officer, he asked me for the average commute cost. I told him $12!

Pittsburgh Airport to Downtown gets the largest share of Maglev money.

The federal government yesterday awarded $28 million for the continued planning of a magnetic levitation train line designed to speed passengers from Pittsburgh International Airport to Downtown Pittsburgh and points east.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09254/997200-147.stm

Also, Maglev study for Atlanta to Chattanooga.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., announced that the Federal Transit Administration will provide $14.2 million to pay for environmental and engineering studies of a proposed magnetic levitation train route through North Georgia.

http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider- ... e-of-cash/

Plus money for Long Beach.

The federal government has awarded Cal State Long Beach nearly $250,000 to study construction of a magnetic levitation rail system that may one day haul containers and other cargo to and from local ports, officials said Thursday.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13312473