Emerging Commuting Trends: Evidence from the Chicago Area

Over the last several decades commuting distances have increased in both miles andtravel time. Our analysis focuses on the 2000 county-to-county commuting data fromCensus Transportation Planning Package that show intercounty commuting hasincreased substantially. In the Chicago six-county region these data indicate that threeof the six counties are now net importers of commuters. In the past only Cook County(Chicago) had more commuters into than from the county.There are, however, demographic changes that contribute to lower increases in growthin commuters. Namely, the 1990s signaled the first increase in household size in over ahundred years. This was partially responsible for a decline in the portion of thepopulation that is employed, a statistic that had been steadily increasing. In fact, inprevious decades there was a larger growth in the number of commuters than in peoplethereby disproportionately adding to peak-period traffic.At the same time the exceptionally high increases in homeownership added to the sizeof the urbanized area. These data suggest that commuters are making housing choicesthat contribute to commuting travel distances. The ability and willingness to increasecommuting distance makes it possible for employers to find their employees from anextended geographic region. As the economy is becoming more specialized, we mayachieve the desired match between the jobs sought by commuters and the skill needs ofemployers.