NO, IT'S NOT YOUR IMAGINATION! Chicago Roads More Congested Than Ever!
DESPITE NEARLY 5% DECLINE IN MILES DRIVEN IN CHICAGO AREA, ROAD CONGESTION HAS ACTUALLY INCREASED SINCE 2007!
In Chicago, we used to have a "Rush Hour." Now, to regular commuters, it seems as if there is only one hour WITHOUT A RUSH! You're not losing your mind if you feel that way!
According to a study by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the number of miles driven in the Chicago Metro Area during Peak Travel Hours has actually decreased 4.6% compared to this time last year. This is a nearly 27% decrease than the national average for the past year - 3.6% (U.S. Department of Transportation data).
If you use major Chicago roads, expressways, and tollways, however, you are unlikely to experience faster speeds or shorter commute times.
Why?
Chicago-area roadways were already badly saturated with traffic congestion before the recent surge in gasoline prices - so much so that fewer miles traveled here has had little effect on travel times.
Also, the Second Chicago Summer Pastime - Road Construction - has shut down traffic lanes on major expressways here - including, this year, the Edens and Stevenson Expressways, and the Tri-State, Jane Adams (I-90), Reagan (I-88), and Veterans Memorial (I-355) Tollways.
Data from the Urban Congestion Report put together by the Federal Highway Administration finds that vehicle speeds are 50 MPH or less on at least 20% of the highway system around Chicago, for an astounding average of 13 hours, 19 minutes each day.
It bears repeating! For over half each day, average vehicle speeds on our major expressways and tollways are 9% below the legal speed limit! Furthermore, highway congestion has increased by 42 minutes since 2007!
How does Chicago compare to other Major Metro Areas across the U.S.?
Not well - nationally, average congestion time actually DECREASED 54 minutes within the past year - to 4 hours, 6 minutes per day. Indeed, Chicago Area Roads are congested over three times as frequently as the national average!
Along with Chicago, Pittsburgh PA and Sacramento CA were the only U.S. Metro Areas with congestion time increases greater than 15 minutes since last year.
Between 1995 and 2007, the Chicago area roads with the biggest decline in miles driven were the Dan Ryan and Kingery Expressways, serving the South and Southeast Sides of Chicago and adjacent suburbs. Both expressways pass through areas seeing low growth in employment and housing numbers during this twelve-year period.
Not surprisingly, highways showing the highest miles-driven increase were the Veteran's Memorial Tollway, traveling from Suburban Scaumburg IL to just north of Joliet IL, and the Reagan Memorial Tollway, which runs between the Western Suburbs of Chicago and the Western Portion of IL. Areas these highways serve experienced exponential population growth over the past decade and a half.
Overall, toll transactions on the Illinois Tollway System are down 0.4% in 2008, according to Illinois Toll Authority Spokesperson Joelle McGinnis. The biggest declines are on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294), and the Reagan Memorial (I-88), down 7.0% and 6.5%, respectively.
Want to experience a significant relief in travel time, instead of an increase?
As you might guess, driving during the increasingly-fewer "off peak" hours will save you travel time. Jose Rodriguez, of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, says that the greater percentage of home-based businesses and work-from-home employees has positively influenced the trend toward traveling at less-busy times.
But old habits are still hard to break. Across the U.S., 70% of commuters travel alone - only 9% carpool, according to U.S. Census Bureau Data).
Further, despite roughly 5% increases since last year in the use of Public Transit - the CTA, METRA Suburban Rail, and PACE Suburban Bus - just a little more than one in ten commuters use Mass Transit to get to work.
So, you see, there is a valid statistical reason for making that fist, and pounding it against your dash, every day as you travel to and from work.
Read Jon Hilkevitch's "Getting Around" column from last Monday's Chicago Tribune for more.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
