After landing at mdw and told by ATC to exit at the taxiway D only; the confused crew stopped prior ...

Narrative:

Flight to mdw was normal other than being late. Upon contact with mdw tower; we were told to keep our approach tight and plan minimal time on the runway for departures. Upon landing; we were told to exit at 13R; and if we could not make that runway; exit at the forward high speed (D) and taxi on the forward high speed only. We understood this to mean we were not cleared onto taxiway Y for some reason. We cleared onto D; but could not actually get completely clear of the runway because we thought we had to hold short of D. Tower did clear a plane to take off behind us; and we were not actually on the runway. We just weren't past the hold short markings. Upon switching to ground; we could not contact them due to congestion. When we were finally able to talk to ground; they told us to clear the runway and join Y. We then taxied to the gate without any further problems. They reminded us that we were allowed to join Y upon clearing the runway per the aim; but we thought tower restricted us from joining Y. Looking back; perhaps tower wanted us to join the forward high speed only as opposed to the reverse; but the wording led to confusion on our part if that is what was intended.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After landing at MDW and told by ATC to exit at the Taxiway D only; the confused crew stopped prior to Taxiway Y and remained there until ATC gave further clearance along with an admonishment about not clearing the runway.

Narrative: Flight to MDW was normal other than being late. Upon contact with MDW Tower; we were told to keep our approach tight and plan minimal time on the runway for departures. Upon landing; we were told to exit at 13R; and if we could not make that runway; exit at the forward high speed (D) and taxi on the forward high speed only. We understood this to mean we were not cleared onto Taxiway Y for some reason. We cleared onto D; but could not actually get completely clear of the runway because we thought we had to hold short of D. Tower did clear a plane to take off behind us; and we were not actually on the runway. We just weren't past the hold short markings. Upon switching to Ground; we could not contact them due to congestion. When we were finally able to talk to Ground; they told us to clear the runway and join Y. We then taxied to the gate without any further problems. They reminded us that we were allowed to join Y upon clearing the runway per the AIM; but we thought Tower restricted us from joining Y. Looking back; perhaps Tower wanted us to join the forward high speed only as opposed to the reverse; but the wording led to confusion on our part if that is what was intended.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	998999
Time
Date	201203
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	MDW.Airport
State Reference	IL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 276
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Ground Conflict Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance

After landing at mdw and told by ATC to exit at the taxiway D only; the confused crew stopped prior to taxiway Y and remained there until ATC gave further clearance along with an admonishment about not clearing the runway.