Save gas, avoid tolls with US-41

So this is kind of random, but I was cleaning off my desktop and found some screenshots that reminded me that I was going to post this.

As you may or may not know, there are 2 (principal) ways to drive between Milwaukee and Chicago: on the Illinois Tollway (I-94), or by taking US-41 and thereby avoiding the tollway.

For a long time, I was curious about which is the optimal route. Each seems to have its advantages: the tollway has a faster speed limit and there is less stopping (which ought to improve gas mileage), while US-41 is shorter and has no tolls.

The day before I came to Spain, I had to make a trip to Evanston to pick up an international student ID card, since the STA Travel in Minneapolis messed up and didn’t issue me one. It was then that I decided to do an experiment. Here are the results:

Route 1: Interstate 94 (Tollway)

The route indicated on the map, which goes from Start to End using I-94 is 28.8 miles long. My dad’s car reported an average of 26.2 miles per gallon on this route. Thus, we burned 1.1 gallons of gas, which, if gas costs $3 a gallon (I am completely unaware of current gas prices), equals $3.30. Add $3 in cash tolls and you get $6.60.

Route 2: US Highway 41

This alternate route, taking US-41 towards Waukegan and then meeting back up with I-94 after the tollway ends, is shorter, at just 24.7 miles long. As predicted, the gas mileage obtained was not as good, due to occasional stopping and inconsistent (and lower) speed limits. We got 25.6 mpg, thus burning 0.96 gallons of gas, which cost a total of $2.89. And, no tolls. Woo!

While there are more factors in play (vehicle wear, travel time, time of day, traffic conditions, driving style, externalities, social ramifications of not paying tolls) that this study does not take into account, it can be reasonably concluded that:

For occasional travel between Milwaukee and Chicago, it is a more economical and environmentally-friendly option to avoid the I-94 Tollway and instead take US-41.