O'Hare was ranked as one of the four busiest airports in the United States in 2019. According to 2021 data, there are about 978 domestic flights to 179 cities in the United States every day. In order to adapt to the expected growth and make necessary updates, the city launched a $8.5 billion umbrella project called ORD 21, with the goal of increasing travel options and gate capacity, improving the passenger experience and reducing delays and congestion.
One of the key components is the refurbishment of the ATS, which has been operating in O'Hare since 1993. This is an unmanned transportation system that travels back and forth on a 2.7-mile two-lane track, stopping at terminals and parking lots along the route. Greatly.
The renovation project plans to add another 2,000 feet of track and build a new intermodal station to provide more space for rental vehicles. According to CDA documents, the expansion is expected to reduce car and bus congestion and reduce carbon emissions.
The reformed airport train system initially allocated 310 million U.S. dollars, but the city has so far paid 323 million U.S. dollars. Since this project is part of CDA's capital improvement, local and state taxes are not used. Instead, the funding came from airport bond income and a US$292 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan.
The sidewalk was originally completed two years ago. Why did it take so long? It depends on who you ask.
O'Hare's ATS retrofit project has encountered several obstacles since it started work in 2015, and the system was completely shut down in January 2019.
CDA Commissioner Jamie Rhee, obtained by the Chicago Business Daily, emphasized in a 2019 memo that one of the biggest challenges is "mechanical issues during testing." Rhee also pointed out some proprietary technologies that require more testing. CDA used the pandemic as a reason to postpone the delivery of components and make it difficult for experts to go to the test site.
But other reports highlighted contract disputes between the city and Parsons, the main contractor of the project. The two parties finally participated in a mediation settlement in August 2019, which caused further delays. At the same time, the project appeared to exceed the budget by more than $13 million.
When asked about the delay, a Parsons spokesperson declined to comment.
When Construction Dive contacted CDA for comments, a spokesperson pointed out its fact sheet to us, which did not directly explain the reason for the delay, but outlined some of the project challenges. The fact sheet stated that “ATS has been ongoing since 2017 and involves the integration of brand new rail vehicles and control systems on existing tracks.”
It pointed out that the project is particularly complicated because O'Hare ATS is a unique system and only one of its kind is deployed in service in Taipei, Taiwan.
The document added that the ATS and its vehicles “have undergone extensive and rigorous testing, including a total of more than 360,000 miles of test mileage, which is equivalent to the expected mileage of six months of public service.”
The CDA document confirms that the City of Chicago has paid US$323 million to date (approximately US$13 million more than the US$310 million originally planned for the project), including:
Although with the increase in holiday travel, it is welcome to provide limited daily services from 10:30 am to 8:30 pm, but it is not clear which work has not been completed and when the ATS will resume in early 2022 24 /7 Runs around the clock.
"We will continue to work with our contractor, Parsons Construction Group, to make additional technical improvements to rail vehicles to support long-term operation and maintenance requirements," a CDA spokesperson wrote in response to questions about remaining work and schedules. "The initial service schedule balances the operational needs of ATS services while ensuring system reliability before adjusting our existing shuttle bus services."
The bus shuttle bus will continue to increase services until the ATS is fully operational.
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