On The Go Chicago

I am sure you have all heard the addage, “Enjoy the journey…”  When you take the CTA with your kids, the journey can be as much fun as the destination!

I took the train yesterday when I headed to Millennium Park for the free Wiggle Worms class I mentioned in my blog last week, “Five FREE Things You Should Check Out Before Summer Ends.” My daughters had as much fun on the train as they did at the class.  For those of us toteing toddlers, the CTA is actually pretty stroller friendly and becoming more so with each newly renovated station.

Being a LA native, we never had the option of public transportation.  When I moved here five years ago, I started taking the train to the loop every day for work.  It was a real novelty and a bit surreal.  Many a time I would think to myself,  ”were not in Kansas anymore Toto.”

Five years later and the novelty has not worn off.  Some how I have managed to hang on to that childlike wonder of taking a bus or a train.  My kids love taking the CTA too.  My daughter has taken on the role of official welcoming committee.  She waves and says hello to every new passenger.  Most adults try to avoid making eye contact with each other on the CTA, but kids feel it is their duty to make sure they greet or at least smile at everyone on the train!

My nanny does not drive, so she and the kids take the bus to the Zoo every Wednesday for story time, and in the winter they went to a number of free admission days at the Shed Aquarium and Field Museum.  I simply got her a Chicago Card tied to my credit card and printed her out directions using the CTA’s Trip Planner. The city is now at her beck and call.

Following are a few tips I have picked up while traveling with strollers on the CTA.

1. Kids under seven ride FREE!
2. Utilize the Trip Planner functionality.  It is now powered by Google Transit, and it is a great tool for navigating the CTA.  They even have a mobil phone application.
3. If your kids are still in a stroller, handicap accessible stations are your friends!  Dragging strollers up and down stairs is not fun…I know from personal experience!  The CTA is upgrading stations to be handicap accessible, but currently not all stations have elevators.  I’ve noted the handicap accessible stations below.
4. All 153 Bus routes are driven by busses that can lower down.  This functionality was installed for wheelchairs, but makes getting your stroller on and off the bus MUCH easier.  Simply ask your driver to lower the ramp.  Most of them do it automatically.
5. Get a CTA Chciago Card for you and your nanny (if you have one).  The fares are less expensive with a Chicago Card, and it is certainly easier than fumbling with cash while wrangling your children on to the bus.

Train Stations With Elevators

• Brown Line – Kimball, Kedzie, Francisco, Rockwell, Western, Damen, Montrose, Irving Park, Addison, Paulina, Southport, Wellington, Diversey, Armitage, Sedgwick, Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Washington/Wells, Library-State/Van Buren, Clark/Lake.

• Blue Line – O’Hare, Rosemont, Cumberland, Harlem (O’Hare), Jefferson Park, Logan Square, Western (O’Hare), Clark/Lake, Jackson, UIC-Halsted, Medical District (Damen Entrance), Kedzie-Homan, Forest Park.

• Green Line – Ashland/63rd, Halsted, East 63rd-Cottage Grove, King Drive, Garfield, 51st, 47th, 43rd, Indiana, 35th-Bronzeville-IIT, Roosevelt, Clark/Lake, Clinton, Ashland/Lake, California, Kedzie, Conservatory-Central Park Drive, Pulaski, Cicero, Laramie, Central, Harlem/Lake (Marion entrance).

• Orange Line – Midway, Pulaski, Kedzie, Western, 35/Archer, Ashland, Halsted, Roosevelt; also Library-State/Van Buren, Washington/Wells, and Clark/Lake.

• Pink Line – 54th/Cermak, Cicero, Kostner, Pulaski, Central Park, Kedzie, California, Western, Damen, 18th, Polk, Ashland, Clinton, Clark/Lake, Library-State/Van Buren, and Washington/Wells

• Purple Line – Linden, Davis, Howard, Wellington, Diversey, Armitage, Sedgwick, Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Clark/Lake, Library-State/Van Buren, and Washington/Wells.

• Red Line – Howard, Loyola, Granville, Addison, Chicago, Lake, Washington (temporarily closed for renovation), Jackson, Roosevelt, Sox/35th, 47th, 69th, 79th, 95th/Dan Ryan.

• Yellow Line – Howard, Skokie