?-traffic (Chicago: live, airport, train)

[danco]

Hi chicago, hows the traffic ?

[j33]

It sucks. I finally gave up, got rid of my car a few years back and moved a few blocks from the 'el' out of frustration.

So I don't think about it much anymore.

[crazylilkelly]

Originally Posted by dancocal

Hi chicago, hows the traffic ?

huh, pretty awful! Well, mostly just during rush hour. I've only driven to chicago a few times & honestly believe that all those commuters must do crack if they're willing to go through that mess twice a day 5 days a week. I always take the metra to the city. I love the metra b/c I don't have to deal w/ awful traffic & I can just relax, listen to music, read etc...

[ITChick]

Exhausting. Especially evening rush hour. The sun is in your face the whole way if you are traveling east-west. Do what the other posters mentioned and live close to the "L" or the Metra if you can.
-itchick

[Jamileena]

I was just there on vacation from CA and the freeway traffic there is worse than in Los Angeles. I drove on the Dan Ryan expressway for about 9 miles, took over an hour between approx. 3pm and 5pm. It was awful. Being from CA Im transportationally challanged, so taking a subway or a train is not an option. But if I lived out there, Id surely be on the train or live next door to my place of employment.

[hawkfandan]

In a word - brutal!

I reverse commute every day - from the city out to the burbs - and it's terrible.

[vanitykitten]

I drive cab so I know something about the traffic in Chicago. It's like this morning rush is from 7am-9:30am. Not much traffic after that till evening. Evening rush is a pain in the butt. It starts about 3pm and is heavy till about 7pm. Evening rush is really bad because people start work in the morning at different times, but after a whole day at work everyone wants to get out early if they can. They just end up clogging traffic. In the morn after 9:30 I can get to the airport in 35 minutes from downtown, during rush it's an hour or more. Lucky for me I know a lot of short cuts.

[long101]

Yea there is no point in going out in rush hour to go anywhere even in most of the suburbs. Obviously 90% of people work 9ish-5ish type of jobs.

The only real time you are in trouble is if you HAVE to drive to work. I would say about 90% of commuters to not HAVE to drive to work. There are so many options people just dont want to take advantage of. You can drive to a metra and park or in some burbs you can drive to the CTA and park. I dont know why so many people drive to work. IVe done the rush hour drive a few times and would not be able to do it 5 days a week.