Skybus start of Gary service triggers renewed search for Chicago bus link

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

GARY | The start of Skybus Airlines service to Gary/Chicago International Airport on March 13 may be accompanied by direct bus service to downtown Chicago.

The airport is soliciting bus companies to provide the service, which would include service to the nearby Clark Street South Shore commuter rail stop, according to Airport Director Chris Curry.

Possible Chicago stops for the bus include Millennium Park and McCormick Place, Curry said.

Skybus, an ultra-low-fare airline, will fly twice daily from its hub at Greensboro, N.C., to Gary.

The airport also will work with the South Shore to improve the Clark Street stop, which only has a small shelter for those waiting for trains, Curry said. The stop is about one mile from the airport terminal.

"If we want to advertise that as a legitimate airport stop, it needs to be revamped," Curry said.

The airport two years ago secured $1.7 million in federal funding for improving the stop, Curry said. To spend that money, the airport must match it with $425,000.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District will work with the airport on improving the stop, according to NICTD Planning and Marketing Director John Parsons.

Even now, with no regularly scheduled airline at the airport, Parsons gets e-mail inquiries from people flying in on charters asking about shuttles to the Clark Street stop.

The $1.7 million in federal transportation funds secured by the airport would not be enough to put a full-size station or speedier high-platform boarding in at Clark Street, Parsons said.

But a bus loop, a larger shelter, and some vehicle parking are all possibilities.

Both the airport and South Shore would also like to see a pedestrian/bicycle path from the station to the airport.

The airport has also put out a request for proposals for someone to operate the airport restaurant, Curry said. Mendoza's Mexican Mix pulled out of the airport last year after SkyValue ended all flights after five months of flying.