--- title: "O'Hare to McCormick Place: Blue Line, shared taxi, rideshare" description: "Blue Line from O'Hare ($5 to board), change at Clark and Lake to the Green Line for McCormick Place. Shared taxi, rideshare and what the airport lists." url: "https://ordairportguide.com/guides/ohare-mccormick-place-convention/" updated: "2026-10-31" airport: "ORD" type: "guide" --- > Independent guide, not the official ORD website. All pages: https://ordairportguide.com/llms.txt # O'Hare to McCormick Place for a convention Blue Line from O'Hare ($5 to board), change at Clark and Lake to the Green Line for McCormick Place. Shared taxi, rideshare and what the airport lists. Updated October 31, 2026 ![The blue tactile edge strip and concrete slab of the Cermak-McCormick Place platform on the CTA Green Line.](https://ordairportguide.com/images/ord/mccormick-place-station-approach-v13.webp) Cermak-McCormick Place station McCormick Place’s own page gives the train route from O’Hare in one line: the [Blue Line](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/cta-blue-line/) to Clark and Lake, then a southbound Green Line train to Cermak-McCormick Place. The station is 0.15 mile from the northwest corner of the West Building. A shared taxi charges a flat fare instead of the meter. ## Five ways to McCormick Place Two flat fares apply to this trip: $5 to board the Blue Line at O’Hare, and $30 for the shared taxi to downtown or McCormick Place. No official page publishes a travel time from O’Hare to McCormick Place. The CTA’s and the airport’s other figures stop at downtown. | Way | Cost | Time | Where it ends | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Blue Line, then Green Line | $5 to board at O’Hare | The CTA says 40-45 minutes from O’Hare to downtown, with no official time past that | Cermak-McCormick Place station | | Shared taxi | $30 flat | No official time | A gate your event designates | | Metered taxi | The meter. The airport’s average to downtown is $50, the CTA’s is around $40 | The CTA says 25-90 minutes to downtown | A gate your event designates | | Rideshare | None published for this trip. The CTA’s chart says around $35-50 to downtown, surging to $140 or more | The CTA says 25-90 minutes to downtown | The gates and zones on McCormick Place’s campus map. Gate 40 is its tip for leaving | | Pre-arranged car | None published | None for the trip. The airport says the car takes 5 to 20 minutes to reach you at O’Hare | McCormick Place names no limousine stop | The meter settles the fare, and neither average is a McCormick Place fare. ## Blue Line to Green Line: the change at Clark and Lake The Blue Line starts inside O’Hare and runs at all times, every day. The [Blue Line guide](https://ordairportguide.com/guides/how-ride-cta-blue-line-from-ohare/) walks you from each terminal to the platform. At Clark and Lake, McCormick Place says the Blue Line is a subway train and the Green Line is an elevated train. Take a southbound Green Line train marked Cottage Grove or Ashland/63rd Branch. The CTA says transfers to another train or bus are free, up to two within two hours, on the same Ventra Card, Ventra Ticket, bank card or wallet. McCormick Place’s page puts the L fare at $2.50 and adds that there’s an additional fare if you come directly from O’Hare. The CTA’s fare chart says the fare to board at O’Hare is $5. For a multi-day convention, the CTA’s fare chart also sells unlimited-ride passes valid on CTA and Pace: $5 for 1 day (24 hours from first use), $15 for 3 days and $20 for 7 days. Its tip is to board at O’Hare with an unlimited pass and pay nothing more. If you’d rather not walk from the station, McCormick Place says an eastbound #21 Cermak bus boards directly below the Green Line platform and stops in front of the main entrances of the South, North and West Buildings. Going back to the Loop, use the northbound platform marked “Harlem/Lake”. ## Taxi and the shared ride Taxis wait at the stand on the lower-level curb outside baggage claim at every terminal. Use the marked stand, because the airport warns against rides offered outside it or on the departure level. The meter starts at $3.25 for the first ninth of a mile, then adds $0.31 for each further ninth and $0.31 for every 45 seconds of waiting. Extras on top of that: - $2.50 rush-hour surcharge, 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. - $1 overnight surcharge, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. - $0.50 to pay by card - $4 Illinois airport departure tax on fares leaving the airport Our [taxi page](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/taxi/) lists the full rate sheet. McCormick Place says a Shared Ride Program exists for people flying into O’Hare and Midway who take a cab to McCormick Place or downtown. It gives no price. The airport’s taxi page doesn’t describe the shared ride, so confirm at the stand that it’s running and what it costs. For the ride back, McCormick Place names the ARRO and CURB apps for hailing a taxi electronically. It also says facility signs and the Concierge Desk direct attendees to the gates designated for their event. ## Rideshare and pre-arranged cars [Rideshare pickups](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/rideshare/) at O’Hare are on the upper level, at the orange poles 2A to 2G in Terminal 2 and the green poles 3G, 3H, 3J and 3K in Terminal 3. Leaving McCormick Place by Lyft or Uber during busy events, you may exit faster by choosing Gate 40 as the pickup, McCormick Place says. It sits on the west side of the West Building on S. Indiana Ave. With a pre-arranged car, you book ahead, then call the company once you have your bags, and it gives you a plate number, a description of the car and a door to meet at. Cars meet you in lane 2 on the lower level. The airport publishes no fares. McCormick Place names no limousine stop, so ask your company which gate it uses for your event. ## Convention weeks: what’s published and what isn’t O’Hare’s Public Transit and Taxi pages mention neither McCormick Place nor convention weeks, and no page says how a busy event changes taxi lines or train crowding. Before you ride, CTA’s Blue Line page lists upcoming alerts, including planned work. McCormick Place tells visitors to check its event calendar for the buildings your event uses. For a room, McCormick Place’s Plan Your Visit page lists the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, the Hiltons at McCormick Place and the Marriott Marquis Chicago. It calls the Hyatt and the Marriott connected to McCormick Place. ## Sources - O’Hare Airport Guide: [CTA Blue Line](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/cta-blue-line/), [taxi](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/taxi/), [rideshare](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/rideshare/), [limousines and pre-arranged rides](https://ordairportguide.com/transport/limousine-and-prearranged/) and [Blue Line guide](https://ordairportguide.com/guides/how-ride-cta-blue-line-from-ohare/) - McCormick Place: Getting here, Public transportation and Plan your visit pages - Chicago Transit Authority: the airport transit chart, the Blue Line page and the fare chart - Chicago Department of Aviation: the Public Transit page and the Taxis, Limousines and Rideshare page