Business & Tech

Study: Romeoville Commute Time Ranks Among the Worst

Results show more than 30 percent of Romeoville commuters traveling 45 minutes or more to get to work.

A new study from The Business Journals argues that commuters have a more difficult time getting to work than most other Illinois communities of comparable size.

The study dissected commuting data for 3,012 municipalities with populations of 10,000 to 50,000 people, including Romeoville, which has a population of around 39,000. The report showed 31.46 percent of Romeoville commuters must travel 45 minutes or more to work. Nationally, 15.5 percent travel 45 minutes or more to get to work, according to the study.

Only 17.93 percent of Romeoville commuters travel 14 minutes or less to work, while 24.04 percent travel between 15 to 29 minutes and 26.57 percent travel 30 to 44 minutes.

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According to the report, the study awarded points for every commuter who takes less than 30 minutes to get from home to his or her job, and it took away points for every commuter above that threshold. The raw data came from the five-year version of the 's 2009 American Community Survey.

Two factors, the report said, were of primary importance in the On Numbers rankings: communities with a strong local supply of jobs and a smooth traffic flow receive the best scores.

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Romeoville ranked 2,864 out of 3,012 small communities nationwide. Altus, Oklahoma took the top small-town spot in the country, while in Illinois, Macomb residents had the easiest commute and Riverdale had the worst, ranking at 3,003. For more on the study, CLICK HERE.

Hope could be on the horizon for local commuters when it comes to shortening travel times. Construction is scheduled to begin on a in 2013, and a capacity study is on tap to determine whether more daily trains can be added to the Heritage Corridor line. Pace bus users on Route 855 can also take advantage of a new law that allows buses to r if traffic is moving slower than 35 mph.


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