The good news is that UA 609 (DCA-ORD) was TWENTY-SIX minutes early Saturday.

The bad news is that the Blue Line on weekends is partially shut down on weekends due to construction, with shuttle buses being provided to get pax from one stop to the next -- right now, it's from Harlem to Jefferson Park stops that you are bussed.

My experience, in beautiful, dry, 60-ish weather, was that the CTA is doing a decent job of have lots of the larger buses available and moving people pretty quickly and effectively - lots of employees stationed at the 2 stops to direct people.

But - it adds a good 30 minutes to the trip, and with the general slow-downs, it was a solid 90 minutes to get to the Loop.

Despite CTA's good efforts, it won't be fun in bad weather...if you are arriving on a very cold or wet Saturday or Sunday this fall and winter, you may want check on whether they are using partial bussing, and if so, consider one of the more expensive alternatives...