The Airport Transit System (ATS) is an automated
people mover
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
system at Chicago
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...
. It opened on May 6, 1993. The ATS moves passengers between the airport terminals and parking facilities, and was designed to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The system was closed for refurbishment and modernization between January 2019 and November 2021, and reopened on November 3, 2021.
History
Planning and construction
![19960524 03 O'Hare Airport (5437782448)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/19960524_03_O%27Hare_Airport_%285437782448%29.jpg)
In 1982, O'Hare officials unveiled the O'Hare Development Plan, a plan to expand the airport with a new international terminal (now called Terminal 5), and an expansion of the domestic terminals. The new international terminal, located away from the domestic terminals, necessitated the creation of a people mover to allow for connections between domestic and international flights. The system was also intended to provide connections to distant parking facilities. The City of Chicago first awarded the contract for the people mover system to
Westinghouse Electric
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...
, the second lowest bidder, in 1985. After simplifying their initial proposal in response to concerns from City, the contract was re-awarded to low bidder
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...
. Ground was broken in 1987 by Mayor
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as ma ...
, who also died that year. The system ultimately opened in May 1993.
Modernization and extension
As part of a larger, $800 million project involving a new integrated transit center, the ATS began a modernization project in 2018. The expansion included replacing the existing 15-car fleet with 36 new Bombardier
Innovia APM 256
The Bombardier INNOVIA APM 256 (internally code-named the Taipei Metro C370 or BT370 by the operational arm of Taipei Metro, Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation) is the second generation of automated guideway transit rolling stock to be used on W ...
vehicles, upgrading the previous infrastructure, and extending the line to the new Multi-Modal Facility on the east side of
Mannheim Road
Mannheim Road, also known as La Grange Road from Cermak Road to U.S. Route 30 (US 30; Lincoln Highway), is a north–south major street in the near-western suburbs of Chicago. It carries US 12 from Des Plaines to 95th St near Hickory H ...
.
Previously, the line ended at Remote Parking. The system closed in January 2019 for construction and testing of the planned modernization, with airport-funded shuttle buses running in public trafficways servicing the destinations previously serviced by the ATS.
[ Originally, the ATS was to reopen by Fall of 2019, but this was delayed several times due in part to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, contract disputes, and reliability. The Chicago Department of Aviation reopened the system in November 2021 with a limited schedule. The system returned to 24 hour service in April 2022.
Service
The Airport Transit System operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The system is free to users and connects O'Hare's terminals to parking lots, and the consolidated rental car facility.
The system is in a "pinched-loop" configuration, which allows more than one train to travel along a track at once while providing service in both directions. The entire system uses platform screen doors
Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail syste ...
, which means that all the stations were enclosed with doors along the boarding area. When the train arrives at a station, the doors of the train and the station align and open in sync with each other. This method prevents people from leaving the platform, falling on the tracks or tampering with restricted areas.
The system's 36 cars are joined into 3-car trains, with each train able to carry up to 147 passengers.
Stations
ATS stations are fully accessible and provide access to the elevated ATS tracks. The system has two tracks, and each train stops at all five stations traveling in both directions. Its west end is at Terminal 1, at the west end of the terminal core, and it makes a counterclockwise loop around the parking garage with stops at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Parking Garage A (the main garage) is accessible from any of the three terminal stations, as is the O'Hare terminal of the CTA's Blue Line. Parking Lots B and C are only accessible from Terminal 1 and 3 stations, respectively. It takes 10 minutes to travel from Terminal 1 to the consolidated rental car facility.
Outside the terminal loop, the ATS travels east to Terminal 5, the airport's international terminal. It then turns north, crosses over the main access road and Blue Line, and reaches Parking Lot E. The station also has a Pace
Pace or paces may refer to:
Business
*Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US
* Pace Airlines, an American charter airline
*Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...
bus stop and a "Kiss 'n' Fly" drop-off area. The system then crosses Mannheim Road to reach the consolidated rental car facility, which also connects with the station on Metra
Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...
's North Central Service
The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In June 2018, the public timetable shows 10 weekday departures from C ...
, providing commuter rail service to Chicago Union Station
Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...
inbound and outbound during service hours. Currently, the Metra station is open on weekdays only.
Fleet
The ATS used the French-based VAL
Val may refer to: Val-a
Film
* ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo
Military equipment
* Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies
* AS Val, a Sov ...
technology, which features fully automated, rubber-tired people mover cars. The system is capable of traveling at speeds of up to , and now uses 12 3-car Bombardier Innovia APM 256
The Bombardier INNOVIA APM 256 (internally code-named the Taipei Metro C370 or BT370 by the operational arm of Taipei Metro, Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation) is the second generation of automated guideway transit rolling stock to be used on W ...
trains, which replaced the previous 15 Matra VAL 256 vehicles.[ Paid subscription]
References
External links
*
Official web page
{{Chicago Rail
Airport people mover systems in the United States
Transportation in Chicago
VAL people movers
O'Hare International Airport
Railway lines opened in 1993
Railway lines closed in 2019
Railway lines opened in 2021
1993 establishments in Illinois
2019 disestablishments in Illinois
2021 establishments in Illinois