Equity in Transit: Evaluating the Modernization of the Chicago “L” Red Line South Branch Through an Analysis of Comprehensive Regional Planning Documents

Abstract

In the past decade, Chicago has shifted towards a broad, holistic approach to planning in the region. The city’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), has aimed to shift the conversation around the planning of the city, including its transit infrastructure, towards a focus on equity over the course of two comprehensive regional planning documents, GO TO 2040 and ON TO 2050. Given the significance of these plans, this thesis examines the established funding allocation dynamic that has developed in the region in order to perform an equity evaluation of the city’s investment into the Red Line South Branch of the “L” Train. This is done through an analysis of primary planning documents, a quantitative visual analysis of investment in the city by geography, and interviews of key planners, decision makers, and advocates of Chicago transit. In doing so, this research identifies the city’s gradual movement towards greater equity and community considerations in the past decade. CMAP and local decision makers have accomplished this by first aligning their planning with the requirements of state and federal funding sources, then targeting performance-based optimal areas where the investment will generate the most jobs and economy, and finally incorporating equity concerns and “inclusive growth” into the projects. Although this model currently falls short of proportionately prioritizing the historically disinvested South Side, the city continues to expand their concept of equality and shows signs of real investment in the struggling parts of the city that will eventually lead to growth in mobility and opportunity for these communities in the coming years.