As gas prices continue to creep up, Plainfield resident Kevin House says he has no plans to change his driving habits any time soon.

The recent college graduate drives on the Illinois Tollway at least twice a week and previously used the system every day when he was working.

"It's the most convenient way for me to get to where I need to go, especially because I have friends up in Milwaukee," House said. "The train's nice, but if I want to leave before a train is there or if I want to leave in the morning, or if I want to get somewhere when I'm already there; I don't want to rent a car, I don't want to take a taxi everywhere."

With the summer driving season under way, it seems not all Chicagoans feel this way. Ridership on the tollway system is down slightly this year, though in better shape than other roadways, according to an Illinois Tollway spokeswoman.

"We're not seeing a large drop-off in our transactions," said spokeswoman Jan Kemp. "A lot of other systems across the country have seen much bigger drops."

This year there were more than 178 million toll transactions in the first quarter, a 4.3 percent drop from the more than 186 million transactions in the same period during 2008. But Kemp says tollway use is actually trending towards a 3 percent decrease, after taking into account things such as more bad weather in the first quarter of 2009 and the fact 2008 was a leap year, with an extra day of transactions.

The adjusted figure would put the system in better shape than the overall driving decrease from last year. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, overall statewide traffic was down about 4 percent in 2008 compared with the year before.

"We attribute most of that, if not all of it, to fuel," said Mike Stout, IDOT director of traffic safety.

The average price of unleaded regular gas in Chicago is $3.033 per gallon, according to data compiled by the American Automobile Association. Last year it was $4.436.

The state of the economy doesn't help matters, either. Kemp attributes some of the dip in ridership to the unemployment rate.

"We expect a lot of people have lost jobs," she said. "The majority of our traffic are commuters, so unemployment could play a role."

Drivers could be discouraged from using the state tollways because of its Congestion Relief program's widening and resurfacing projects, she added, but they may return after the construction is through at the end of the year and the tollway system has a greater capacity.

If last year is any indication, the Illinois tollways find themselves in the middle of the road when it comes to changes in ridership. IDOT figures on average vehicle miles traveled show an increase of more than 4 percent for urban interstate usage in northeastern Illinois during 2008, but a nearly 35 percent decrease for ridership on freeways in the same year.

Ultimately, House believes drivers like him won't stop using the highway system, regardless of gas prices or the economy.

"I think a lot of people, if they live downtown, they work downtown, they're not going to drive," he said. "But if they live out of downtown and they don't want to live downtown, they're going to drive."