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As if your last experience on the road–any road–in Chicago weren’t convincing enough, the numbers [pdf] prove it: traffic around here sucks. Rush-hour drivers in the Chicago area spend an average of 46 hours a year–that’s on top of normal traffic times–sitting in congestion. Three of every five miles of local roads are congested, and the total length of rush hour–morning or evening–has grown over the last decade from seven to eight hours a day. Traffic delays result in our cars burning an extra 142,000 gallons of gas a year–and cost us millions of dollars in wasted fuel, time, and business. The Chicago area’s congestion is among the fastest-growing in the country.
Last year, 14th Ward alderman Ed Burke proposed City Council hearings on the possibility of imposing a London-style surcharge “in a bid to ease downtown traffic congestion, reduce air pollution, and bolster funding for the city’s beleaguered transit system.” Daley’s response? He said he had an “open mind,” then added, “Let’s not rush to that and scare everybody off. We’re trying to keep businesses here.”
