Chicago-area expressway traffic continued to bounce back with a vengeance from early pandemic lows in 2022, as the region’s commuters lost more hours to congestion than drivers in any other major U.S. city studied in a new report.
It’s the second year in a row the area’s commuters have earned the dubious distinction from mobility analytics firm Inrix. But last year, the firm found drivers spent even more hours stuck in traffic than in 2021 or pre-pandemic. And the upticks likely had little to do with an increasing number of people driving to downtown offices, as trips to the city center remained comparable with the year before, according to the Inrix report.
The report found the average Chicago-area driver spent 155 hours sitting in traffic along major commuting routes in 2022. That was up from 104 hours in 2021, and about 7% higher than pre-pandemic.
