Approximately a year-and-a-half after a shutdown brought on by COVID-19, traffic has returned to pre-pandemic levels in Chicago, creating familiar headaches for commuters on the city's busiest streets and expressways.
At certain times of the day, the number of drivers on the road has gone up significantly compared to before the pandemic.
TrafficCarma, a mobile app that analyzes real-time traffic information and commuter data, found that during the late morning hours, 10 a.m. to noon, vehicle volumes rose as much as 31% compared to before the pandemic.
The company compared weekly overall vehicle volume to a pre-COVID baseline - the week of Feb. 10 to 23 of 2020.
Both the 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. hours saw significant increases during the five weeks that began in August, with traffic volumes up by at least 21% each week.
Traffic in the 9 a.m. hour also exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with weekly increases ranging between 11% and 19%.
Those who commute in the early morning hours might notice an uptick in drivers on the roads, too.
Local
During the first week of August, which started on the second of the month, traffic volumes during the 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. hours were down by at least 10% each hour compared to the onset of the pandemic. For the 7 a.m. hour, the volumes had decreased by as much as 23%.
But by the week of Aug. 23, traffic volumes during each of the four time periods slightly surpassed pre-pandemic levels. During the last week of the month, the volumes increased yet again, with the 9 a.m. hour experiencing the highest rise at 16%.
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The complete data from TrafficCarma is listed below:
6 a.m. Hour vs. Pre-COVID Baseline:
- Week of 8/2: -11%
- Week of 8/9: -6%
- Week of 8/16: +2%
- Week of 8/23: +1%
- Week of 8/30: +4%
7 a.m. Hour vs. Pre-COVID Baseline:
- Week of 8/2: -23%
- Week of 8/9: -15%
- Week of 8/16: -1%
- Week of 8/23: +1%
- Week of 8/30: +10%
8 a.m. Hour vs. Pre-COVID Baseline:
- Week of 8/2: -10%
- Week of 8/9: -9%
- Week of 8/16: +2%
- Week of 8/23: +1%
- Week of 8/30: +9%
9 a.m. Hour vs. Pre-COVID Baseline:
- Week of 8/2: +16%
- Week of 8/9: +12%
- Week of 8/16: +19%
- Week of 8/23: +11%
- Week of 8/30: +16%
10 a.m. Hour vs. Pre-COVID Baseline:
- Week of 8/2: +29%
- Week of 8/9: +23%
- Week of 8/16: +25%
- Week of 8/23: +21%
- Week of 8/30: +27%
11 a.m. Hour vs. Pre-COVID Baseline:
- Week of 8/2: +31%
- Week of 8/9: +27%
- Week of 8/16: +28%
- Week of 8/23: +24%
- Week of 8/30: +30%
