Meet halfway in Chicago
For a group meeting in Chicago, the fairest points are usually Clark/Lake, Roosevelt, Fullerton or Belmont - each links several 'L' lines, so most neighbourhoods reach them without a transfer. Which one is fairest depends on where everyone starts: togather compares real door-to-door times for each person and returns the spots that keep the trip even.
- CTA 'L'
- Metra
- Buses
- Cycling
- Walking
Where groups actually meet in Chicago
Interchanges that work as a fair midpoint for most groups. togather will not always land on one of these - it answers for your actual starting points - but they are the ones that come up again and again.
Clark/Lake
Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Purple and Pink lines
Six lines meet here, more than anywhere else on the system, which makes it the fairest point for a group spread across the whole city. Also the natural pick if anyone is coming in from O'Hare on the Blue Line.
Roosevelt
Red, Orange and Green lines
Where the south-side branches converge just below the Loop, so it is fairer than anything downtown for a group weighted towards Bronzeville, Bridgeport or the near South Side.
Fullerton
Red, Brown and Purple lines
The cleanest north-side interchange, and it saves a Lincoln Park or Lakeview group the trip down into the Loop and back out. Cross-platform transfers make it quick even if someone does have to change.
Belmont
Red, Brown and Purple lines
The same three lines as Fullerton but further north, which tips it for groups around Lakeview, Roscoe Village and Wrigleyville. Plenty open late.
Washington/Wabash
Brown, Green, Orange, Purple and Pink lines
Five lines on the eastern side of the Loop, closer to Millennium Park and the lakefront than Clark/Lake, which makes it the better central pick when the plan involves actually going somewhere afterwards.
Jackson
Red and Blue lines
The only place the two 24-hour subway lines meet, which makes it the fairest point for a group split between the north-west and south sides - and the most reliable one late at night.
Union Station
Metra lines, plus a short walk to the Blue, Brown, Orange, Purple and Pink lines at Quincy
Where anyone coming from the suburbs arrives, so it becomes the fair point the moment one person is starting outside the city rather than inside it.
How to pick a fair meeting point in Chicago
Chicago’s ‘L’ is radial: nearly every line runs into the Loop and back out again. That single fact breaks the halfway-point instinct. Two people the same distance from downtown but on different branches are not near each other in any useful sense - reaching one another often means going in and coming back, which is why a point that looks central on a map can be the slowest option for the whole group.
So the question is which lines actually cross. Clark/Lake touches six of them, which is why it works for almost any group spread across the city. But it is not automatically right: a group living around Lakeview and Lincoln Park is better served by Belmont or Fullerton, and pulling them into the Loop adds a round trip nobody needed.
The suburbs and the lakefront change the answer
The moment somebody is starting outside the city, the fair point shifts towards Union Station and the Metra lines rather than staying inside the ‘L’ network. And in summer the lakefront matters: a cyclist on the Lakefront Trail can cross the city faster than a train rider going through the Loop, so their fair meeting point is somewhere else entirely.
Averaging positions on a map cannot express any of that. togather times each person on the network they actually use and returns the spots that keep the trip even across the whole group.
Add everyone’s starting point, set how each person travels, and send the result to the group chat.
Meeting halfway in Chicago - questions
- Where is a fair place to meet halfway in Chicago?
- Usually an 'L' interchange rather than a geographic midpoint - Clark/Lake, Roosevelt, Fullerton or Belmont. Which one is fairest depends on everyone's starting neighbourhood and travel mode, which is what togather works out.
- Why doesn't the middle of the map work in Chicago?
- Because the 'L' is radial - almost every line runs into the Loop and back out. Two people on different branches can be far apart in time even when they look close on a map, so the fair point is usually where their lines actually cross.
- Does it handle a group where some people cycle?
- Yes. Chicago is flat and heavily cycled, so a rider on the Lakefront Trail is on a genuinely different network from someone on the Red Line. Set the mode per person and each is timed on their own routes.
Other cities
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