<p>what are the ways that a student can get to chicago without owning a car from UIUC?</p>
<p>Is there a bus or train ? how far is the bus and train stations from campus? is it walkable?</p>
<p>Amtrak, about a mile NW of campus</p>
<p>The municipal (Champaign-Urbana) bus system is excellent and free for students. It would be easy to take a local bus from campus locations to the Amtrak station. There also are several bus companies including Megabus, Suburban Express and Lincolnland Express (LEX) that travel to Chicago area locations from stops on UIUC campus or the transportation center in Champaign where the Amtrak station is located. If you decide to attend Illinois you will get information about these companies during summer orientation. Also, there is info on the university website about this. With the large number of students from Chicago area, there are many transportation options. One thing to remember if you are interested in Amtrak is to purchase ticket a few weeks in advance because the prices often go up close to the travel date when there are not many seats left. This information is based on past experience, pretty sure it is still valid.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the buses are the preferred option for transportation to Chicago from UIUC. They are close in. You can pick them up from various close-in spots on campus within walking distance. They drop you off and pick you up for the return trip from multiple Chicagoland locations, at various times. Amtrak is a bit quicker to downtown, but the times are more limited, and you need to bus, or cab to the station in Champaign, and head into downtown Chicago to pickup at Union Station. Amtrak is also cheaper, if you are flexible enough for the limited times and can book far enough in advance.</p>
<p>The train is perfect for a day trip to Chicago’s downtown to enjoy all the sights and experiences of a true world-class city.</p>
<p>is there a website (s) for the transportation detail from UIUC to chicago?</p>
<p>i found the mercedes shuttle. but it looks like u cannot get tickets beyond a week or so in advance (looking for 12-16-11.)</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.busline.com/[/url]”>https://www.busline.com/</a></p>
<p>[LEX</a> Daily Bus Transportation Service, ride bus/shuttle from Chicago/O’Hare/Midway/Union Station/Suburbs to Champaign, Bloomington, UIUC, ISU, MTD, take bus from, go from](<a href=“http://www.lincolnlandexpress.com/]LEX”>http://www.lincolnlandexpress.com/)</p>
<p>roderick, for Suburban Express (which you called Mercedes), go to that site you mention and at bottom of page click on “JavaScript-free version” and you will get another page that looks the same but allows you to reserve on the date you want.</p>
<p>Re the suburban express bus line to the chi suburbs: does anyone know whether the UIUC student traveler can use a credit card in another’s name (a parent’s name) to pay for the ticket?</p>
<p>Greyhound assesses an 18 dollar charge if the traveler is not the same of the payor. The website for sub express does not specify this . presumably the name on the ticket wd equal the credit card name and would therefore not equal the student’s name.
<a href=“https://www.busline.com/checkout_pay.php[/url]”>https://www.busline.com/checkout_pay.php</a></p>
<p>I know Lex allows payment on their site with a parent’s credit card. I’ve never used Suburban Express, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t given that their major competition does.</p>
<p>You can always try car pooling:</p>
<p>reddit.com/r/uiuc <— pretty active uiuc community</p>