The Cost of Congestion

If Chicago drivers don't already know all they need to about traffic congestion from sitting on the expressway, dodging in and out of rush hour, and crawling along interior city streets, two recent studies boil the problem down to hard numbers that underline the harsh economic cost of gridlock in the Chicago area.

In its 2008 report, "Moving at the Speed of Congestion," the Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit civic group, found that Chicago and its 6 surrounding counties "squander an estimated $7.3 billion a year in wasted time and fuel, and environmental damages due to excess traffic congestion on its expressways and arterials. If nothing is done, that amount is predicted to grow by about 55 percent by 2030, more than twice as fast as the region's population, to $11.3 billion a year."30

How badly is congestion hurting the individual driver? The average cost of wasted time per car commuter in Chicago, the second most congested city in the country behind gridlocked Los Angeles, is $3,014. The cost for the city is $2.6 billion. "People may be surprised to learn lost time is costing them 19.5 times more than wasted fuel," concluded the study, which estimated that 87,000 jobs are lost due to labor and transportation costs because of the congestion.31

In its 2009 Urban Mobility Report, Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute ranked the Chicago region second in rush hour traffic among major metropolitan areas, estimating the congestion cost at $4.3 billion. Chicago ranked third in excess fuel consumed.32

There is also the environmental impact of congestion and the increased amount of greenhouse gases it creates through the burning of some 142,000 extra gallons of gas a year. The Metropolitan Planning Council estimates the cost of congestion at approximately $33 million a year, an amount that accounts for such expenses as the treatment of respiratory ailments and structural deterioration. 33

More and better mass transit, as well as better and expanded highways lanes, are needed to induce people to leave their cars at home. But faced with the difficulty of securing funds to upgrade mass transit and improve roads, the City of Chicago is left to devise and promote other innovative measures to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads.

The city suffered a major setback in early 2009 when it forfeited a $153 million federal grant aimed at easing gridlock. U.S. Transportation officials said the city failed to meet the 2008 application deadline, the CTA having failed to conduct the required number of public meetings and to gain approval for congestion-pricing on parking meters. Mayor Daley blamed the Bush administration for not being more flexible.34

The shocking increase in the amount it costs to park at privatized downtown parking meters and in privatized downtown parking garages has succeeded in keeping some drivers out of the city. Parking meter rates in the Loop went up to $3.50 an hour, while the median price to park in a Chicago parking garage went up to $31 a day, which ranks fourth among U.S. cities.

But privatizing parking meters was more about raising money than easing congestion. Alderman Ed Burke has pushed for a "congestion fee" on cars driving downtown, similar to the surcharge in London in which drivers pay 8 pounds ($13) to drive into the restricted zone. Traffic there has dropped more than 20 percent.

But while Mayor Daley has softened his opposition to congestion fees, the business community remains fiercely opposed, saying it will deter or discourage people from coming into the city to shop, dine, or pursue other tourist activities. 35

In 2007, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Illinois Tollway Authority applied jointly for a $248 million grant from the federal government to implement a pilot congestion pricing program on the Northwest Tollway that would seek to reduce traffic on the Kennedy Expressway. Tolls would vary depending on the time of day, location and direction of travel. 36 While open road tolling has reduced congestion around toll sites, the congestion pricing plans still await their day on Chicago's highways.