I been telling people this for years. I lived in California. Chicago traffic is HORRIBLE and it’s all day!!!!

Mainly due to Poor protection with Public Transportation- now everybody drives!

So fix the CTA and stop letting criminals run rampant on the trains and busses which is forcing folks to resort to driving. Regardless, there's no way Chicago is worse than NYC or LA.

Trains and CTA security sucks so they drive now :(

I remember being in LA in 2019 and thought "hmm, this isn't worse than back home in Chicago...". And then the pandemic hit, and conditions on CTA trains became unsafe and deplorable, and traffic spiked. I used CTA exclusively for seven years, and every time since 2020 I get on a train, I immediately regret it. And EVERYONE you talk to feels the same way. CTA, CPD, and the City in general has no concrete, effective plans to rebuild ridership as they kowtow to smoking, assaults, robberies, urination and defecation, horrid smells, unusable seats--- it never ends. The best Red Line ride I took last year was an anomaly in that nothing bad happened; there was no smoking, fighting, humans relieving themselves- oh, but a man was playing pocket pool across from me for all of 25 minutes. It was the best ride because it's gotten so bad, if that's the worst thing that happens on my trip to get from point A to point B, I'll take it. If I need to go farther than I can walk, I always choose to hop in the car rather than wait for deplorable public transit options that may or may not come in the first place. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be cruel, but if you need to hang out all day on the train, fine! Just kindly go relieve yourself somewhere, ANYWHERE that isn't literally under the seat you are currently occupying. To be honest, you pee on a train and you should be banned. Period. Same for smoking, fights, everything. You're not racist for demanding decency in public. And want to know who hurts the most from lack of accountability on trains and buses? Lower SES POC. Through inaction, this is making their lives absolutely worse. Ok end rant but yeah the deterioration of the CTA plays a huge role in traffic getting worse as it is no longer a safe or viable means of transportation.

I thought it was Atlanta and Los Angeles was the top traffic City but Chicago shocked me

I was on I-55 at Damen after work and apparently cut off someone. They flashed a gun at me and I was terrified. I'm from Wisconsin so not used to these types of things.

No way Chicago is more congested than Atlanta.

FYI we have a lot of Coastel truck driving coming through our highways which also does a lot of damage

This is unacceptable. BAN ASSAULT CARS.

Public transportation is usless because it doesn't go anywhere

I have noticed a considerable improvement regarding inbound and outbound rush hour traffic on I-55 since 2015 but then again, I've been retired for almost 8 years now.

I’m so glad I experience life out in the northern suburbs. It’s way faster commuting but we have an older population that is affluent and retired so it helps they don’t drive often.

Any city of this size and density needs a fast, frequent and extensive rail transit system. The L is none of those things.

I work everyday and even 1pm, which USED to be one of our least congested hours is now so jammed. Really there no rush hour. Its all day and night now. Chicago is now a mega city with over 10 million people in the area and our biggest flaw is that almost all the highways lead to Downtown. Too much congestion

Crazy when so many people telework.

Just unbelievable. There are several reasons for this happening, and the big thing here is of course leadership, and investing. The mayor and governor know nothing about making the right investments in the state’s and city’s infrastructure. The roads and streets are loaded with potholes, bike lanes are not needed on most streets, the list goes on and on. What I think we should do is invest more in our public transit system. A lot of people don’t seem to know that public transit saves time, it cuts greenhouse emissions, it’s faster than sitting in miles of traffic, and you may even make a friend or two.

To be fair, the circle was especially messy last year with construction. Hopefully it isn't too bad going forward.

Chicago traffic is really not bad. Try new york, Atlanta, LA hell even Houston

No way Chicago is more congested than Los Angeles or Atlanta. To me those were the worst places to drive. After 5:00 a.m. you will spend an entire day if you need to get in and out of Los Angeles by car or the Bay Area. Atlanta is terrible as well. There are almost no back roads to get where you need to go through the city certain places you need to get to you have to take the expressway and that spaghetti Bowl curved Expressway is not only dangerous but bumper to bumper during the day.

Just build one more lane! It'll solve the problem!

No way we are more congested than NY/LA, not a chance. We are bad though. Drivers are 110% more aggressive over the last 3-4 years. Zillion more trucks now with getting products out. I love it, cities saw a 70% increase in 2022, well that little thing called Covid has had a smidge of impact on the entire work industry. Lastly, I moved here in 1995, why do midwest drivers insist on driving slow in the left???? Only area in the country where I see drivers daily, including trucks racing to slow down in the left

literally, highways are always jammed. Not a surprise

2nd in the 🌎 world????? 🤔 don't think so

Why would join that rat race everyday

A lot of the traffic is due to too many shootings on the expressway.

It’s either parking lot for hours on the highway, or take the side streets through the absolute ghettos. Pick one

Houston 26 lane highway still doesn't make anything better..

I spent 6 and a half hours in traffic on i94 back in may of 2023

I swear that there is also been a tone of construction lately. Not just Chicago but everywhere.

Also half of Florida has moved here so that's why it's more crowded.

I'm so glad that I work from home.

Do your part to ease traffic congestion. Get your booster shots!

I’m going with the city of the car as busiest!

You basically have the freeway network of a mid size metro that may have something to do with it you would think 😂

I bet 3/4 of the cars on that congested highways have one person sitting inside, commuting to work from the suburbs when they could have taken Metra or Pace. I also bet that 1/2 of those commuters work walking distance from Ogilvie, Union, LaSalle, or Millenium stations. These people choose to pollute the city, make traffic worse for everybody else, and then choose to complain about how traffic is SO BAD when THEY are the problem. Unlike the CTA, Metra doesn't have a reputation of being "unsafe". There's no excuse to not take it. Think about it; driving acar into work every day will not only cost more in the moment, but cost more later when the car's lifespan is shortened because of all the commuting. "Oh, well then we should just add more lanes!!!" That's not how it works. Adding lanes creates more congestion because of the constant merging, and all it does is just stretch out the traffic horizonally. It also makes life for people who live near the highway or have to cross it as a pedestrian much worse. Highways don't belong in cities, and that's shown by multiple studies and cities around the world that didn't decide to turn their cities into ugly car centric wastelands with highways acting as barriers. Also, even if those commuters live father than walking distance from Metra stations, they're likely would be commuting within a affluent area to their job, which CTA wouldn't even be "dangerous" in. We think the CTA is "dangerous" because of news articles and comments on KZfaq videos, not from our own personal experiences. I know that CTA needs an overhaul. I know that it can be uncomfortable at first using public transit when living in a car dependent suburb. But just grow up and deal with it. Oh no, there's someone punching the air 20 feet away from you!!! Boohoo, that person isn't even bothering you, why do you care? People who choose to make the city a worse place and drive into or in it when they have other options are extremly selfish to begin with, and for them to be blaming traffic on "bad infrusatructure" or "shitty drivers" and suggest widening the highway that shouldn't be there in the first place make my blood boil. Just know that if you drive into the city each day by yourself every day and have other options, you're the reason why Chicago is now the most congested city in the country and why highways are still here creating uneccesary, outdated, dirty, and loud barriers for residents of our city. Grow up. Chicagoland.

Jane Byrne interchanged built at a cost of almost 900 million that hasn’t really changed traffic flow.

wasting your precious time to traffic is an awful realization. I moved out of Houston to Albany and was surprised how my quality of life improved when I wasn't forcibly beleaguered by vehicles

The Jane Byrne interchangeable has eased up the traffic slightly.

If drivers weren't so bad it would be better. Stop aggressive driving. And there is a lot more than 3 million people in Chicago

All those carjackings help with congestion, I'm sure. 🤣

Worser than Los Angeles! 🤔

LA seemed worse, tbh

Wow, I would have thought LA or New York would be number 1

I used to preach on those el trains from "85-"87! What an adventure! That was only TRAINING for the Tenderloin ministry out here! GLORY! 🙏🏼🙌🏼👏🏼❤️

How when you can always just take the shoulder

I knew I wasn’t tweaking I been saying for the last two years this got to be worst then New York and I ain’t never even been to new York I just seen it on tv . It be so packed especially during rush hour .

Couldn't be worse than Toronto, Canada. They got traffic day and night.

Don't see how!..I have spent time in BK, Manhattan, and The Bronx..and have fam in LA..Long Beach as well....don't know what formula they are using....😂😂

I do not believe this for 1 second.

Cause no one knows how to drive!!!!!!!!

GOD ALMIGHTY CHRIST JESUS HOLY SPIRIT CAN DO ANYTHING HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH AMEN!!!

What did you expect with the carjackers on the road. People stop had taking public transportation for fear of getting robbed

If PT was not ancient……..

I guess there need to be a lot more carjacking in the city. The carjackers need to work overtime to get rid of cars from the city 🙄🙄🙄

Ms reporter, no need to say anything, we can see tracffic jams right there in your background. Pictures worth more than thousand word and that is the proof

We're #1. You're either 1st or last

I work at night thank God lol it's empty asf after like 9pm

Looks like fun

Construction workers are the worst

Because everyone wants to live on the North Side perhaps and clogs the Kennedy Expressway?

Ride a bike ya lazy ones lol

Who wants to take public transportation in chicago??? I'll take my chances getting car jacked, which are still high

I don’t see how when everyone is moving out

Dude Imagine the traffic in 2043, all the millions of covid babies 😂

born and raised in Chi. 50s-80s, i go visit my son in SoCal, i can't believe that Chi. traffic is worse than Cali. Cali. is horrendous, especially on the I5 north and south, it's a parking lot all day long.. i stay in Dana Point, when i go to LA to see the Hawks, it should take about an hour....LOL try over 2 hours, at least.

1st in NON INSURED DRIVERS

I thought people were leaving Chicago?

We need more smart traffic signals. Most intersections are poorly timed. Also there are traffic signals on small intersections when a stop sign, yield sign, or even a roundabout would suffice