Chicago's mixed bag of traffic news
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Express lanes on the Kennedy reopened this week offering some of the first good local traffic news of the year.
- But even more traffic developments zooming in this month could complicate the picture.
The big picture: Nationally, we stink. A new report by Inrix says we're tied with New Yorkers for most time spent in traffic in 2024.
- Another report from TomTom suggests we also deal with some of the slowest big city traffic in the nation, with it taking more than 19 minutes on average to travel 6 miles.
Zoom in: The average Chicago driver lost 102 hours (a 6% increase from 2023) and $1,826 sitting in weekday traffic in 2024, according to Inrix.
- The same report suggested the average speed of a downtown trip in Chicago was 14 mph, tied for third-slowest in the United States.
- TomTom data, however, suggested we're the fourth-slowest among 94 cities.
- Either way, it's not good.
Between the lines: The sluggish traffic occurred in a year of heavy construction on the Kennedy, which probably played a role.
- It also happened as downtown trips increased 13% from 2023, the second-highest jump among the 10 biggest U.S. metropolitan areas, per Inrix.
- Plus, Friday trips downtown, which had been sluggish post-pandemic, jumped 14% over 2023 numbers.
The intrigue: Chicago experienced this awful downtown traffic at the same time the city saw some of the worst return to office (RTO) rates in the nation.
- December 2024 saw just 47.8% of the office traffic we registered in December 2019, placing Chicago last among 11 major metros, according to Placer.ai foot traffic data.
What we're watching: Stricter RTO mandates by employers including Bank of America could further worsen downtown traffic this year.
- Traffic could also slow down if the City Council this week passes an ordinance to lower the default speed limit from 30 to 25 mph.
- And brace for more delays when Kennedy construction picks up again this spring.
The other side: Traffic could lighten up if the city adopts New York-style congestion fees charged to drivers entering the central business district during certain hours. Last week, Mayor Brandon Johnson signaled to Block Club that he's open to the idea, especially to charging non-Chicagoans.