Short-term planning for northeastern Illinois may include costlier tollways, more accessible mass transit and an emphasis on community-based developments, an agency planner told business leaders at a recent seminar in Aurora.

Tom Murtha, senior planner for strategic initiatives for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), identified care of environmental and natural resources, land use, transportation, community development, and water, housing and human service needs among the primary issues facing planners and developers.

“The (main) key for development purposes is transportation, water and consumption of land,” said Murtha.

Transportation, a long-time scourge of the Chicago area, is among the top priorities for CMAP. According to a U.S. Department of Transportation report, the area ranks as the worst metropolitan region for congestion. National averages for urban congestion are 6.12 hours per day. The Chicago area is at 13.04 hours per day, more than double the national average.

The monetary costs of Chicago area congestion – from time delays and productivity losses to excessive fuel costs and safety losses – is estimated at $11 billion annually.

Adding to the magnitude of the problem are current studies predicting that by 2030 northeast Illinois will add an additional two million residence and 1.2 million jobs.

“We can do something to make the system work better,” said Murtha. “With new technology we can make (highways) work better.”

These new technologies include “vehicle to vehicle communication, and vehicle to highway communication,” said Murtha.

The idea is that if vehicles can communication with each other, for instance, indicating dangerous proximities or mechanical malfunctions, then other drivers on the road will be better equipped to react to these events.

The idea of “vehicle to highway communication” involves highway safety patrols directly contacting drivers in the case of dangerous weather conditions, accidents, and other unforeseen problems.

The hope is that with better driver information and better reaction times commuters can avoid highway traffic accidents altogether. The avoidance of these accidents, subsequently, will lead to less congestion, said Murtha.

CMAP also is investigating the use of “congestion pricing” on Chicago area highways. “Congestion pricing” involves charging drivers additional fees for traveling in congested areas by time of day. The fees, then, are used to provide Chicago commuters with better transportation options including bussing and a newly proposed elevated train system.

“Congestion pricing only works will alternatives,” said Murtha. “The idea is not just shifting congestion from highways to local roads. We need to provide people with something else.”

This approach has been used successfully in California, and internationally in such locations as London, Stockholm, and Singapore.

Car pools lanes – while used in areas of Washington state and California – are not being considered for the Chicago area.

In addition to offering alternative transportation modes and less congested highways, CMAP also plans to ensure sustainable development by promoting more close-knit communities, said Murtha.

Part of CMAP’s mission, then, is to assist developers and architects in creating self-sufficient communities lessening the need for long distance highway travel.

A top strategy is to create communities that allow for pedestrian walking and bicycling.

“We need to build walkable communities,” said Murtha.

This is achieved through providing for pedestrian safety, in championing the walking-public’s right of way, and in building communities that have “compact lively town centers, inviting public spaces, parks, and slow-speed streets” among other things, he said.

Murtha added that not only will such measures ease transportation problems, but they also will promote local business.

Creating bicycle lanes also is an approach being pushed by CMAP. Bicycle lanes slow traffic, promote alternative transportation and add to the liveliness of a town center.

Seven percent of the U.S. population is composed of bikers and walkers, compared to 30 percent in England, 40 percent in Germany and 48 percent in the Netherlands.

With statistics like these, officials at CMAP sees a lot of room for growth in the Chicago area’s potential for alternative, and beneficial, modes of transportation.