Organizations work to find transit alternatives for the entire region to ease congestion, spending.

In Chicago, the costs of congestion—due to lost work hours and excessive gas consumption—have increased every year since 1982. If the situation continues to escalate at the same average percentage during the next 30 years, the costs will be staggering.

The Chicago Reporter analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to see how people commuted to work in the nation’s 50 largest cities in 2000 and 2006. Like Chicago, a majority of the other 49 cities saw increases in the percentage of people taking the bus and walking to work in 2006 compared with 2000. Although Chicago was like most other cities in having a lower percentage of people taking the subway to work, its 1.6 percent drop was the largest of the 50 cities analyzed.

Advocates wonder if congestion pricing model could work for Chicago.