Van Buren St. Station

This map shows the location of the project. For projects that do not have a specific location but affect a line/route or the entire system, either the affected lines/routes are shown, or an entire service area map is shown.

If you select the option to “toggle the benefit layer,” you will see an approximation of the area that will benefit from the project.

Each capital project is measured on 15 evaluation metrics to better understand its impact on the region. Learn more about the metrics and see a legend for all measures here.

Click the circled (i) information button to read a definition of each metric and hover over the image to see more about each measure.

The degree to which a project improves regional access to the region’s key destinations. Including jobs, retail, healthcare, recreation, and education.

The project improvements to existing assets to make them partially or fully accessible. Including station/stop and area improvements, vehicle accessibility, and accessible communications.

The project impact to ratings from the FTA Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM).

The project’s minor or major benefits to riders and what proportion of the agency’s riders will benefit from it.

The project impact on overall capacity, reflecting current and planned levels of utilization.

The project impact on reductions or offsets to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from transit operations.

Project impacts on land use and development, construction, and long-term jobs.

The distribution of project benefits to location(s) identified under the USDOT Justice40 Program.

The project impact to maintenance or improvement of exposure to risk for riders/employees and the project impact to security enhancement.

The project impact on operating costs.

The project impact to maintenance or improvement of exposure to risk for riders/employees and the project impact to security enhancement.

Project impact on maintenance or improvement of service speed and reliability, considering both direct and indirect impacts.

If required, whether or not the project complies with federal, state, local, or other regulatory mandates.

The project impact to climate benefits, such as a reduction in emissions, generated from mode shift to transit and away from private auto-use.

The project impact to average vehicle ages, compared with Service board benchmarks to prioritize replacing vehicles that are beyond their useful life.

Evaluation Metric Measure
Access to Key Destinations i
Two green up arrows

Significantly improves Access to Key Destinations

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Accessibility Improvement(s) i
One green up arrow

Makes assets partially accessible

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Asset Condition (FTA TERM Rating) i
Yellow gear

Asset(s) rated 2-3

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Benefit to Riders i
Two green up arrows

Significant benefit to riders

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Capacity Benefit and Need i
Two green up arrows

Project increases capacity of transit operations near capacity

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Climate Agency Operating Impacts i
Not applicable symbol

Project does not effect GHG emissions

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Economic Impact i
Two green up arrows

Moderate impact on economic development

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Equity Based on Residential Geography i
One green up arrow

Score 0-2 in Justice40 metric 'Sum of Disadvantage Indicators'

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Impact on Customer and Employee Safety i
One green up arrow

Project indirectly provides safety benefit/improvement

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Impact on Operating Cost i
One green down arrow

Decreases operating cost

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Impact on System Security i
Two green up arrows

Project implements new security protection and/or prevention

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Impact to Service Speed/Reliability i
Not applicable symbol

No impact on service speed/reliability

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Regulatory Requirements i
Check mark

Project Meets Regulatory Requirements

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Ridership/Mode Shift Impacts i
Two green up arrows

Significantly improves transit ridership

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Vehicle Useful Life i
Not applicable symbol

Asset is not a vehicle with a useful life

Click here to see more information on this capital metric and its measures.

Project Description

A complete renovation of the downtown Chicago terminal station will rehabilitate the existing historic waiting rooms, replace the roof assembly while maintaining the green roof, and will replace the pedestrian tunnel in the park. A new 'pop-up' entrance in Grant Park will add a new access stair case and elevator and add an ADA-compliant ramp connecting to the pedestrian bridge. The pedestrian tunnel under Michigan Ave will be waterproofed and a new elevator will be added to the Jackson Blvd platform. The scope of work includes rehabilitation of the stair enclosures and elevator west of Michigan Avenue, replacement of the platforms, new full-length platform canopies, heated warming shelters, construction of a new vendor space at lower level, and all new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing throughout the station.