Transport guides

How to get between ORD and where you are going: trains, buses, taxis, ride-hail and rental cars, with what each costs and where it picks up as the operators publish it. The guides compare the options for the trips people make most, and the transport pages list every mode in one place.

Looking for the listings themselves? They are on the Transport page.

• Driving to O'Hare: directions and which approach for which terminal

  Terminals 1, 2 and 3 share one set of roadways. Terminal 5 has its own signs off I-190, and the Multi-Modal Facility is off Mannheim Road and Zemke.

  • Start with your airline
  • Which approach for which place
  • Dropping off and picking up
  • Sources
• Dropping off and picking up at O'Hare

  Drop off on the upper level, pick up at the outermost lower curb. Curb waiting gets you towed, so use the free cell phone lot on Bessie Coleman Drive.

  • Dropping off: the upper level, at your airline’s terminal
  • Picking up: the lower level, outermost curb
  • Getting to the cell phone lot
  • When the lot or the curb doesn’t fit
  • If your passenger is taking Uber or Lyft
  • Sources
• How to ride the CTA Blue Line from O'Hare

  Follow Trains to City to the Blue Line, or ride the airport train from Terminal 5 first. Boarding at O'Hare costs $5, and downtown is 40-45 minutes away.

  • Walk from Terminals 1, 2 or 3
  • Terminal 5 starts with a train ride
  • Which ticket fits your stay
  • On the platform and on board
  • Sources
• Kiss 'n' Fly at O'Hare: a drop-off away from the terminals

  The Kiss 'n' Fly is at the Multi-Modal Facility; airport pages say northeast or northwest corner. Take I-190 Exit 2A, park up to 15 minutes, ride the train.

  • Exit 2A, then two right turns
  • Dropping off: leave the car, take the train
  • Picking up: your passenger comes back to you
  • Kiss ‘n’ Fly or the terminal curb
  • Sources
• O'Hare taxi fares: metered, shared and suburban cabs

  What the meter charges at O'Hare, the shared flat fares, how suburban cabs are priced and called, and the curb stand at each terminal.

  • The stand is on the lower level at every terminal
  • What the meter charges
  • The airport’s $50 and the CTA’s $40
  • Shared rides have a flat fare
  • Suburban trips come in two kinds
  • When a cab isn’t the car you want
  • Sources
• Pre-booked cars and limousines at O'Hare: where the driver meets you

  Claim your bags, call the company, then meet on the lower level in lane 2. The plate number, the 5 to 20 minute wait and where to find a company.

  • How the pickup works
  • When the driver comes to baggage claim
  • Finding a company when you haven’t booked
  • Which pickup point goes with which ride
  • Sources
• Renting a car at O'Hare

  Every O'Hare rental counter is in the Multi-Modal Facility, a free Airport Transit System ride from all four terminals. Phone numbers and shuttle notes.

  • Which companies have counters, and how to call them
  • Riding the train to the building
  • Off-airport companies run their own shuttles
  • Driving to the building to return the car
  • Sources
• Uber and Lyft at O'Hare

  Uber and Lyft pick up on the upper level at Terminal 2 (poles 2A to 2G) and Terminal 3 (3G, 3H, 3J, 3K). From Terminal 1 or 5, ride the free train first.

  • Which pole is yours?
  • Getting to a pole from Terminal 1 or Terminal 5
  • Wheelchair rides and the Multi-Modal Facility use other spots
  • Heading to the airport instead
  • Sources