The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for northeastern Illinois’ transportation system and intensified many longstanding disparities. But we can use this moment to reimagine how our transportation network can better serve all residents.  

As northeastern Illinois prepares for a post-pandemic recovery, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) is working with our regional partners to develop a visionary mobility strategy that can support an equitable recovery, sustain the transit network, and ease a rebound in congestion. Final recommendations are expected in fall 2022.

Under the guidance of a steering committee, CMAP is working with consultants to develop a regional mobility action plan and implement strategies from ON TO 2050, the region’s long-range plan, to address new challenges and critical issues that have worsened during the pandemic.

During this project, CMAP will:

• Identify and study innovative mobility policies from around the world.

• Assess COVID-related changes to jobs, housing, and transportation patterns.

• Model different transportation scenarios that could happen post-pandemic and the effect these changes could have on northeastern Illinois.

• Identify strategies that can address transportation challenges and embrace opportunities for improved regional mobility.

While the mobility recovery project will continue into the second half of 2022, CMAP periodically will share documents summarizing the different phases of work completed to date.

Interim deliverables include:

• ​​​​​​​Policy benchmarking. The project team benchmarked innovative policies from peer regions in the United States and around the world. Read the full report here.
• Understanding COVID-induced changes. The project team assessed how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected topics like telework, housing, employment, and e-commerce within northeastern Illinois. Read the full report here.
• Assessing Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies.​​​ The project team developed case studies of TDM approaches in other regions in the United States to understand their potential applicability in northeastern Illinois. Read the full report here.

Many communities in northeastern Illinois have started transforming streets to create attractive and welcoming community spaces. Farther away, cities like Barcelona, Spain, have used these designs in a much grander way to create greener spaces that put pedestrians first. Read more.

Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works found an innovative a way to meet travelers’ needs through a special ride-hailing program when it suspended its overnight bus service during part of the pandemic. Read more.

Car travel in northeastern Illinois returned to pre-pandemic levels by summer 2021, reinforcing why congestion remains a significant problem for the region. We looked at how Singapore used congestion pricing to address traffic and travel demand. Read more.

Like other states, Illinois has been at a crossroads over how to fully fund the transportation system in recent years. But Oregon has been one of the few states to generate revenue through a road-usage-charge policy, providing a glimpse of how the idea could work on a statewide level. Read more.

Daniel Comeaux, CMAP project manager (dcomeaux@cmap.illinois.gov, 312-386-8669)