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Comment by wa2flq | Hacker News Reader

There is significant reverse commute and congestion from Chicago into the suburbs The travel times are typically longer than the conventional flow.

Suburb to Suburb mass transit is bus but challenging for long transits. There are only two major ring type highways. Attempts to get a suburban ring "STAR" train or outer Chicago "Circle" Loop line never get past the study stage.

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I'm one such commuter. I go from western Chicago burbs to north. There is no legit public trans option. It's 3 hours one way for what takes me 30 mins in no traffic.

What i really hate is the variability. Good days its 30 min. Bad days, may be over 2 hours. And, you cant always tell before you get on the road.

So the conditions change so quickly that opening Waze just before you leave doesn't at least give you a ballpark estimate?

Yes, actually. Crashes, for example, can't be predicted via Waze and periodically f* up your commute in an epic way. And they happen very quickly and the effects ripple through the system equally quickly.

One other thing. If you get on at 22nd street, headed north on 294, past the Cermack toll (and 290/Roosevelt ramps), you have no exit available for about 8 miles. So, you're committed. And, once you've made it that far, you might as well stick it out, because it'll open up to 80-90 mph as soon as you get past the Touhy toll about 2 miles away.

Yup, happened again this morning for me. Same spot as last week. North bound accident between the Ohare Oasis & the 90/190 exit ramps. 2 lanes blocked. 40 minute estimate from when I left at 8am turned into 70 minutes by the time I arrived at work.

In addition to what drewbug stated: I check traffic before I leave. If I'm lucky, there's a stated 10 minute delay due to a single accident. By the time I get to where the accident was, there's been 3 more. In my 25 mile commute, it's common that I see at least 4 accidents each way. See my other comment, by the time you're on the highway, due to the routes, it's a waste to reroute, mostly due to lack of off ramps.

Denver has this also. My drive into the city is about 40 minutes. The drive home is about 1hr 20min.

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