Metra Electric

The metra at University Park is consistently on time and clean. I have ridden this route to downtown Chicago more times than I can count. The parking is fast and convenient. If you are parking overnight, be sure to call the overnight service. This will ensure safety for your vehicle. Plus the parking is only $ 1.25 for 12 hours!
If you do not have a ticket upon boarding, you will have to pay the conductor. If you do have a ticket, they will punch it. They have money saving options too. There are different passes ranging from 10 rides to a yearly pass.
One of my favorite things about the riding in the metra is the flip over seats. If you have a party of four, you can arrange the seats so that they are facing each other. There is also seating on the second story.
There is NOT a bathroom that you can use. So you must go before or after you board.

Taking the Metra Electric is the easiest way to get downtown. You aren’t stuck with the daunting task of having to find where to park or how much you’re going to have to shell out. If you go on the weekends, get a weekend pass and it’s only about $ 6. This is the price of a normal 1-​way trip downtown, so you’ll basically get one ride free (or 3 if you go both Saturday and Sunday.) Parking here is fine, albeit a little dark at nights but no one’s ever bothered me or my car (but then again I do drive a rust mobile), even the times I’ve been alone. The huge downside is there’s absolutely NO bathroom at this location, so if you won’t be able to make it for the 52 minute ride — make sure to stop at the Speedway across the street first. We found out the hard way when it was a pee emergency. We tried opening every single door and no toilet was behind any of them.
The clientele is what you’d expect of public transportation. Sometimes it’s entertaining, sometimes it’s just quite nauseating. The last time we took the train was the latter as a guy next to us threw up all over himself for about ½ the ride. He had to be carried off by the conducter. Depending on how you look at it, that may have been considered a high point of my Metra experience?