Building Transit with the Community, Not for It: Takeaways From The Nation’s Largest Transit Conference
At Stoltz, we lead with heart. As a woman-owned and led agency, we believe the best work happens when you connect people to experiences and emotion. That belief is why one experience at APTA TRANSform & EXPO in Chicago this October stayed with me.
As a first-time attendee there was plenty to love about APTA’s conference. The industry awards, the breakout sessions, and the sprawling expo floor at McCormick Place all delivered. But the moment I keep coming back to is the three-hour technical tour of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)’s Red Line Extension.
The project in brief
The Chicago Transit Authority is extending the Red Line from 95th and Dan Ryan to 130th Street. The 5.5-mile extension will add four fully accessible stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue, and 130th Street, with bus, bike, pedestrian, and park-and-ride connections at each. CTA says riders traveling from the future 130th Street station to the Loop could save up to 30 minutes. It also describes the project as one of the biggest investments on the Far South Side in decades with the total budget coming in at over $5B.
The numbers are impressive, but the impact to the communities served by the extension is what struck a chord. On our tour, we met with project leads and community outreach specialists who are from the communities along the route expansion. These people are deeply passionate about doing the work in a way that serves the most people, noting that every decision they make is through the lens of equity and justice. Let that sink in for a moment.
Outreach as a way of working
We stopped at a site near the future Michigan Avenue stop. Here I spoke with an outreach specialist who told me residents are a little hesitant about how their communities will change, but are excited about having better access to education, jobs, and the history and culture of Chicago.
CTA offers project information in Spanish, publishes a newsletter and email updates, and keeps a record of past public meetings. It has a dedicated workforce page for people who want to train for jobs tied to the project, and it publishes information on property acquisition and relocation. CTA projects the extension will generate more than 25,000 jobs across Cook County and help Far South Side residents reach jobs and opportunities more reliably. Add in elimination of food deserts and new businesses starting up, the economic and health impacts are substantial.
What was clear to me is the intentionality of it all. I’m certain not everyone in the southern parts of Chicago is on board with the changes, but what I observed was strong intent centered around benefitting the people who have waited longest for this kind of investment.
What it means for our work
Public transit is infrastructure, and it is also a promise to the people it serves. The Red Line Extension reminded me that how a project engages people matters as much as what it builds.
That is the approach we bring to every partnership at Stoltz. We have seen it in our 8-year relationship with Valley Regional Transit here in Boise and the transit enhancements our community is experiencing as a result. We have built our expertise in transit because we believe communication, outreach, and trust-building are central to moving communities forward.
If you’re a transit leader or know one, please reach out to our leadership team. We understand the challenges you manage and are asked to achieve. We can help move that needle.
