When communities can clearly show the value of transit, they are better positioned to secure the investment needed to expand and improve it. That is the impact of CNT’s recent work in St. Louis, and it is the same framework we are bringing to transit and housing conversations here at home.

As the St. Louis region considers the potential installation of their first Bus Rapid Transit line, Citizens for Modern Transit, AARP, and the Saint Louis REALTORS® wanted to answer an important question: how does reliable, frequent transit affect neighborhoods, housing markets, and long-term economic growth?

They needed more than a general argument for transit. They needed local evidence that could help policymakers, civic leaders, community advocates, and residents understand what better transit could make possible.

CNT helped provide that evidence.

By analyzing home sale prices near transit in St. Louis, CNT helped show that high-frequency service is connected to stronger property value growth. The analysis gave local partners a shared foundation for making the case that transit is not only a public service; it is also an investment in neighborhood strength, economic opportunity, household access, and regional competitiveness.

Helping St. Louis Answer a Critical Transit Question

CNT’s analysis found that proximity to frequent transit matters. Across St. Louis, median home sale prices increased 50% over the six years between 2012 and 2018 and 65% over the 12 years between 2012 and 2024. But the highest gains occurred near the transit routes with the highest frequency of service.

Homes near the city’s most frequent bus route on average saw price increases of 144% over six years and 167% over 12 years, far outpacing gains for homes located farther from high-frequency service.

The analysis also found that properties near routes with more frequent service, including routes with 21- to 30-minute headways, experienced stronger appreciation than those near routes with longer wait times.

That finding points to a critical lesson for local leaders: transit access alone is not enough. Frequency and reliability are what help solidify transit as a meaningful neighborhood asset.

For St. Louis, this data helps make the value of transit visible. It gives advocates and decision-makers clearer evidence to support investment in a stronger transit system. It also helps shift the conversation from whether transit matters to how transit can be planned, funded, and expanded in ways that support neighborhood growth.

Bringing an Equity Framework to Transit-Oriented Development

But growth by itself is not the goal. When transit investment increases property values, communities also need to ask who benefits, who is protected, and who may be placed at risk of displacement. Without an equity framework, new investment can reinforce the same patterns of exclusion and disinvestment that have shaped too many neighborhoods for generations.

That is why CNT’s work goes beyond measuring economic impact. We use data to help communities and government agencies ask better questions before decisions are made.

Equitable transit-oriented development is about more than building near train stations or bus routes. It is about making sure that development near transit creates real benefits for the people and communities around it, especially residents who have historically been left out of planning and investment decisions.

CNT has made this approach a cornerstone of our work. For decades, we have used data, research, and practical tools to help communities advocate for policies that improve daily life. Our Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Calculator is one example of that commitment.

The ETOD Calculator helps communities, advocates, developers, and policymakers understand how affordable housing and economic development near public transit can benefit an entire neighborhood, not only those with the greatest financial means. The tool shows how different development choices can affect housing security, job creation, local revenue, transportation access, and broader community outcomes.

Every development decision involves trade-offs. A project can add housing, but will that housing be affordable to people already living nearby? A project can bring new investment, but will it increase displacement pressure? A development can reduce parking, but will it also improve walkability and access to reliable transit? A new building can generate revenue, but will it create meaningful community benefit?

CNT’s tools help make those questions easier to answer. They allow communities to compare scenarios, understand potential impacts, and advocate for the version of development that best supports affordability, access, and long-term neighborhood stability.

This is how data becomes power. It helps communities enter policy conversations with evidence. It helps advocates make their case before decisions are finalized. And it helps public officials see the full impact of their choices, not just on infrastructure or real estate markets, but on people’s lives.

Applying This Framework Back Home

CNT brought this same framework of data analysis, coalition building, and equity to the conversation around the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act.

CNT advocated for funding, reorganizing, and the modernization of our transportation systems, and we are encouraged by the passage of NITA. But passing legislation is only the beginning. The real test is implementation.

This moment gives northern Illinois a rare opportunity to better align transit, housing, land use, and affordability.

It also gives our region a chance to avoid repeating the harms of the past, when siloed decisions about transportation, housing, and development pushed many households farther from opportunity and increased the cost of daily life.

With the right approach, implementation of NITA can do more than improve transit governance. It can help bring equitable investment to neighborhoods that have experienced generations of disinvestment.

In a recent Crain’s Chicago Business op-ed, CNT CEO Nina Idemudia and Senior Director Jacky Grimshaw argued that NITA gives the region an important chance to address the housing-transit connection. They also made clear that passing a law is not the same as changing people’s lives.

Through tools like the ETOD Calculator, applied research, and community-centered analysis, CNT helps communities, advocates, and public officials understand how development near transit can affect affordability, access, jobs, local revenue, and neighborhood stability.

That work matters in St. Louis. It matters in Chicago. And it matters in every region trying to build a transportation system that does more than move people from one place to another.

At CNT, we believe communities should not have to wait until after decisions are made to understand their consequences. They deserve clear, credible information early enough to allow them to help shape the outcome.

That is the impact of our work: helping communities turn data into evidence, evidence into advocacy, and advocacy into more just, connected, and resilient neighborhoods.