The Greater Chicago region is a center of freight activity with nearly $1 trillion in freight flowing annually on roads in the Chicago region. Like many urban areas, it has been facing increasing traffic congestion, which has raised concerns about implications for future freight movement and economic competitiveness. Chicago Metropolis 2020, an organization of business and civic leaders, embarked on a series of research efforts to identify the impacts and options for addressing this problem. The group engaged a team of consultants to analyze the expected economic impacts of potential road improvement and toll pricing strategies to reduce traffic congestion in the metropolitan area.

The transportation economic development impact system (now referred to as TREDIS) was applied to evaluate how changes in traffic levels, speeds and costs would affect logistic costs for the area’s industries and subsequent regional economic growth. The analysis utilized scenarios for regional road improvements that were developed by staff of Chicago Metropolis 2020, and the Metropolis Transportation Model developed by Smart Mobility, using TransCAD. The Final Report, The Metropolis Freight Plan: Delivering the Goods, can be viewed on the web site of Chicago Metropolis 2020.