Driving less? Not on the tollway

July 3rd, 2008 at 08:54am Wally Haas

The U.S. Department of Transportation has reported that Americans have driven 20 billion fewer miles this year. You wouldn’t know it if you regularly drive on the Illinois Tollway system.

Interstate 90 seems as busy as ever, if not busier. Numbers provided by Joelle McGinnis, a spokeswoman for the tollway, confirm what most observers suspect.

McGinnis said toll transactions for the entire tollway system in the first quarter of this year were up 2 percent. Toll transactions don’t necessarily mean that more cars are on the road; it could be that some motorists are paying more tolls. Still, that means there’s plenty of traffic on the toll system.

Toll transactions might be even higher if it weren’t for the construction on I-88, I-90 and the Tri-State. You’d have to think that some drivers were trying to avoid the stretches where the road work is going on.

In the tollway’s favor is that it has 12.5 more miles this year. The I-355 South Extension Project was completed late last year.

AAA  predicted that Americans would drive less during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. AAA made the same prediction about Memorial Day.

On the tollways, transactions were up 1 percent for the Memorial Day weekend.

Gas prices hit the $4 mark on May 27, so perhaps the tollway’s second quarter numbers will show a decline. But McGinnis said typically traffic picks up in the second and third quarters.

“Some people have to drive,” She said.

If you do have to drive, Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants you to slow down.  It’s part of a campaign with the tollway and AAA Chicago to “Be Safe. Be Wise. Save Gas. Save Lives.”

“While drivers can’t do much to affect the price they pay at the pump, they can take steps to optimize fuel efficiency by slowing down on the road and traveling at the posted speed limit,”  Blagojevich said in a news release Wednesday. “More importantly, reducing speed brings added benefit of enhanced roadway safety. A significant number of accidents on Illinois’ highways are directly related to speeding and driving too fast for conditions, whether construction work zones are in place or not. We want drivers in Illinois to slow down when traveling this summer to ensure that they and their passengers get to their vacations, family outings and other activities safely.”

There’s an economic incentive besides what you would pay at the gas pump. NBC5 has joined the campaign and will give away $50 gas cards to a driver a day between now and Labor Day. Go to www.nbc5.com for details.

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