What does inching along in rush-hour traffic cost you? Chicago in top 10 of most expensive commutes

Stewing in gridlock not only takes a toll on your sanity, it also picks your pocket for more than gas, a national analysis concludes.

American worker bees lose about $9,470 a year driving to work and back home, according to a LendingTree report. That’s based on an average commuting time of nearly 54 minutes daily. In Chicago and the suburbs, the numbers are even higher.

Researchers used U.S. Census data to compare wages and travel length in 100 metro areas, then multiplied hourly pay by commute time.

“We’re putting a value to the amount of time you spend commuting,” LendingTree expert Rob Bhatt said.

Bridgeport, Connecticut, has the costliest trips; residents spent more than 64 minutes on the road at a cost of $18,472 annually, according to the findings.

The Chicago region is 10th highest, with locals journeying 61.4 minutes a day, the equivalent of $12,027 in lost time.

San Franciscans came in second, logging 63.4 minutes a day, which translates into $18,175 a year.

Meanwhile, Texans in the border town of McAllen have pleasant 44.6-minute commutes totaling $5,155 annually, the most manageable out of the 100.

While drivers suffer most from these marathons, it also hurts “employers because it has an impact on productivity. It also has an impact on the general quality of life in an area,” Bhatt said.

Asked about the Chicago area’s ranking, Metropolitan Planning Council Senior Director Audrey Wennink observed, “you can only ride transit if it’s near you.”

“A lot of our development that we’ve been doing in this region has not been near transit,” such as low-density homes in the exurbs, she said.

Statistics from the past 20 years show a “slightly smaller percentage of the region’s population is near CTA and Metra stations.” Similarly, there’s been a dip in employment numbers near train stations, Wennink noted.

“The amount of driving and the amount of distance people are driving has been going up,” she said.

To fix the vicious cycle, Bhatt suggests drivers try public transit a few times a week or carpooling. Pace offers a carpool matchmaking service at pacebus.com/coordinate-your-carpool-pace.

Employers can help if they recognize “the financial, and also emotional and physical burden of commuting,” Bhatt noted.

Solutions include allowing flexible hours so workers could travel at off-peak times or connecting them with federal transit subsidy programs. This lets employees set aside pretax dollars, which can be applied to fares on Metra, Pace and the CTA for up to 40% in savings.

The Regional Transportation Authority has information at mytransitbenefit.com.

Got a commuting war story? Drop an email to mpyke@dailyherald.com.

One more thing

Curious about switching to transit but not sure how much it costs?

RTA officials advise that a 30-day CTA/Pace Pass is $75, or $900 a year.

“On Metra, it depends on which zone you start and end in, but it could be $75 to $135 a month for a monthly pass, which is $900 to $1,620 per year,” spokesperson Melissa Meyer said.

For residents who don’t go into the office every day, there are “flexible options like the Metra 5-Day Pass or CTA/Pace 7-Day Pass, the Regional Day Pass, and more,” she added.

The RTA also offers several reduced fare and free fare programs for older adults, individuals with disabilities and riders on tight budgets. For information, go to rtachicago.org/riders/free-and-reduced-fare-programs.

You should know

Bears fans relishing the team’s home opener victory over the Minnesota Vikings Monday, Sept. 8, will have an extra reason to cheer. Molson Coors Beverage Co. will provide free CTA rides from Soldier Field between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. The offer includes the Red, Orange and Green lines at Roosevelt Station and the No. 146 Bus to the Loop.

Gridlock alert

Oak Brook-area drivers should have a Plan B for exiting the Ronald Reagan Tollway (Interstate 88) starting Tuesday. The Illinois tollway is closing the ramp from westbound I-88 to southbound Route 83 for repairs. Work should continue into October to fix the structure, which was hit by a construction excavator being transported in May. Traffic will be detoured to Highland Avenue, Butterfield Road and 22nd Street to reach Route 83.