Inequitable access to high-quality transportation options has prevented growth and investment in Black and Brown communities and low-income communities. With the persistence of serious racial and economic inequities, along with the election of equity-forward public officials and significant technological changes to our transportation system, there is call for a deliberate and coordinated approach to increase transportation equity and, as a result, improve life outcomes for communities that have historically been marginalized.

Project Overview

The Transportation Equity Network (TEN) project has built a coalition of community groups, equitable transportation advocates, local leadership, and others to serve as a network of organizations to work with decision-makers to embed racial equity and mobility justice into transportation decisions and investments. TEN aims to have Black and Brown representatives of community groups hold the majority of leadership positions within the coalition.

This project is a long-term effort, meant to build and manage a network that influences transportation decision-making in a lasting way. TEN focuses on pressing topics such as:

• Advocating for equitable decision-making processes, transportation improvements without displacement
• Compensation for community groups participating in transportation engagement processes
• Grassroots community-led engagements around equitable transportation infrastructure
• Improving accountability between local governments and and the communities they engage with

The TEN network actively convenes its members, participates in city, county, regional, statewide, and national forums, responds to requests for assistance and information from community groups or the media, and conducts policy analysis and advocacy, among other activities.

Community & Beneficiaries

TEN represents the needs of people in Chicago that have suffered from inequitable transportation access or have been negatively impacted by past decisions, and is looking to expand its reach to Chicagoland suburbs. TEN has developed an organizational structure that positions community-based organizations as decision-makers and advocacy groups as support.

Leadership: Executive Committee

Outcomes

Short-term outcomes include a working coalition that meets regularly to coordinate efforts on transportation equity, inform ongoing transportation plans and projects in the city and region, to develop analytical and communication pieces to advance coalition priorities, to inform, build capacity, and engage communities participating in planning and decision-making, and to create an agenda for transportation equity in the Chicago region.

TEN will work towards long-term outcomes for the region to increase equitable community-driven investment. Our guiding goal is to reduce the racial wealth gap caused in part by unequal transportation access. This broader outcome can be measured by progress toward several goals in low-income communities and communities of color: improved access by residents to regional assets, increased public sector investment in transportation infrastructure (but without displacement), improved access by local businesses to customers and suppliers, reduction in air pollution, increased healthy transportation choices, reduction in transportation costs, and many others. Ultimately, improvement in these measures will also lead to increased private investment in historically marginalized communities, bringing about comprehensive community-driven investment.

Priorities and Accomplishments

Over the years, here are some of the numerous accomplishments and projects from TEN:

2023-2025

• TEN coalition members helped pass historic legislation creating the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA), with TEN and its connections adding advocacy support where needed. 
• TEN hosted a day trip to Madison, Wisconsin with key CBOs and government stakeholders to tour Madison Metro’s new bus rapid transit line. 
• Eight member CBOs successfully planned and hosted Future of Transit Town Halls, targeted outreach, and focus groups regarding the Better Streets for Buses Plan. The goal of these activities was to uplift popular grassroots education to help increase community understanding and community-led support for infrastructure improvements.
• A monthly round table began to convene in late 2025 between CTA, CDOT, and TEN CBOs, as well as the Bus Priority Vision document, co-created with CBO members, with themes and recommendations that came out of transit town halls. 
• The TEN listserv, the main point of communication across the network, reached 77 partners in 2025, including 10 new to the network. 

2021-2022

• Participated as a co-sponsor on LVEJO’s Southside Summit on Transportation to address negative outcomes of the Midwest’s freight system on Black and Latinx communities.
• Advising Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways on involvement of community groups and equity considerations in countywide transit and bike plans.
• In a project led by Equiticity, a co-chair of TEN, conceptualizing and developing a multimodal mobility hub in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
• Prioritizing post-COVID public transit needs and developing advocacy campaigns to push transit agencies in a pro-equity direction.
• Provided feedback on the City of Chicago’s equitable transit-oriented development (eTOD) Policy Plan, developed in partnership with Elevated.
• Profiled on the Energy Foundation’s website, “Paving an Equitable Transportation Path in the Midwest”.
• In a project led by Equiticity, supported the “Biking Where Black” research webinar.

Participants

• Access Living
• Active Transportation Alliance 
• Alliance of the Southeast (ASE) 
• Austin Coming Together (ACT) 
• Avondale Neighborhood Association (ANA) 
• Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) 
• Centro de Desarrollo Latino (CEDEL) 
• Claretian Associates 
• Clean Power Lake County 
• Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC) 
• Crossroads Collaborative 
• Community Service Partners 
• Commuters Take Action 
• DuPage Federation 
• Elevated Chicago 
• Elgin Community Bikes 
• Elgin in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter 
• Emerald South 
• Endeleo Institute
• Equiticity
• Evanston Transit Alliance (ETA) 
• Far South Community Development Corporation (Far South CDC)
• Fetal and Infant Mortality Project (FIMR) 
• Foundation for Homan Square 
• Garfield Park Community Council*** (GPCC) 
• Grassroots Empowerment Mission (GEM) 
• Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC) 
• Greater Roseland Chamber 
• Greater Southwest Development Corporation (GSDC) 
• Grow Greater Englewood 
• Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) 
• Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) 
• Kalipeni Foundation 
• Latinos en Evanston/North Shore (LENS) 
• Latinos Progresando 
• Little Village Environmental Justice Organization* (LVEJO) 
• Metropolitan Planning Council** (MPC) 
• Neighbors for Environmental Justice (N4EJ)
• North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council (North Lawndale CCC) 
• Northwest Center 

Funders

Funders of TEN to date include The Chicago Community Trust, Energy Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, McCormick Foundation, Verizon, and an anonymous family foundation. We thank each of these funders for their generous support. TEN has also secured contracts with the City of Chicago, Cook County, and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The members of TEN are actively seeking funding from additional sources. Other foundations, individuals, governments, or corporate partners who wish to be early funders of this important initiative are welcome to contact us about sponsorship or participation.

Contact

To learn more about TEN, its members, and how you can be involved, please contact Julia Hage, Manager, at jhage@cnt.org.