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Driving change: a transportation system for the next century

Every year, nearly 700 million tons of goods valued at more than $1 trillion move through northeastern Illinois’ comprehensive network of roads, rails, bridges, waterways, and runways. 

That staggering volume is possible because of the Chicago region’s world-class transportation assets. This network is the robust, beating heart of our global economic prominence.

It didn’t happen by accident. Chicago became the nation’s transportation hub because previous generations of leaders acted innovatively and invested boldly — from the elevated rail lines that shaped the growth of Chicago, to the expressways that linked suburbs to the city, to the freight corridors that made us the logistics capital of North America. 

But much of this network was built for the last century and is in dire need of investment for the next century. It’s time for the region’s leaders and residents to work together and act boldly again. The Century Plan is this generation’s opportunity to come together around the big issues that will shape the future of northeastern Illinois. The region’s growth and prosperity — and its capacity to compete globally — depend on it. 

A system at a crossroads

Regional leaders across government, business and civic sectors are coming together to shape The Century Plan — the region’s next big vision for what northern Illinois needs to thrive by midcentury and beyond, guided by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). Transportation infrastructure investment is a key issue emerging from the convenings that are directly shaping the plan.

“Infrastructure is ultimately a balance‑sheet challenge,” CMAP Executive Director Erin Aleman said at a Catalyst Series event on transportation infrastructure in June 2026. “We must raise the revenues required to meet our needs, while also aligning decisions across agencies to ensure resources are used wisely and effectively.”

Over the last two years, CMAP has worked with local leaders, agencies, and people who live, work, and travel in northeastern Illinois to develop the 2026 Regional Transportation Plan. The plan offers a deep dive into the systemic elements challenging northeastern Illinois’ potential — realities such as roads and bridges that are beyond their useful life, rising construction costs, and development patterns that extend infrastructure obligations faster than the revenues they generate.

These challenges are too big for any one community to address on their own, and have the potential to impact the entire region.

Rethinking how we move — and invest

While the The Century Plan takes shape, promising innovations to address transportation infrastructure challenges are emerging and offering inspiration for northeastern Illinois.

For instance, new approaches to transportation funding could realign how we pay for roads with how we use roads. Vehicles today are more fuel efficient than decades ago, but we still rely on a gas tax for transportation funding. The Eastern Transportation Coalition, a partnership of 18 states and Washington, D.C., has conducted 17 pilots on road usage charges, in which motorists pay a fee based on miles driven instead of fuel consumed.

“We can do this,” Eastern Transportation Coalition Executive Director Dr. Patricia Hendren said at the CMAP event in June. “Change is hard but I think we’re at an important crossroads. People actually like talking about transportation. It’s something that they interact with all the time. But there’s a way they think about it. We need to get over that barrier.”

The region also needs to think boldly about how to align transportation, housing, and economic strategy. We need to consider the fiscal impacts of how and where we grow.

Building roads, homes, and businesses where communities already have infrastructure has economic benefits. Heather Worthington, Principal at Urban3, illustrated how land closest to existing transportation infrastructure carries higher economic value.“There’s no one size fits all,” Worthington said, “What happens and works here in Joliet will not work in Cicero.” But a land use strategy that prioritizes growth near existing transportation is one approach that makes good economic sense in many communities.

Building the future together

Transportation systems need new approaches to adapt to a rapidly changing world. And that requires building coalitions of residents, builders, economic development organizations, transit and freight system operators, academics, and policy experts. It means collaboration across governments. It means seeing each other as regional partners, all of whom can win if transportation infrastructure is modern, fiscally and environmentally responsible, and equitable.

The alternative — hyper-local competition — is a race to an unsustainable future.

Regions can prosper “when we think across our jurisdictional lines,” said Adie Tomer, a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow who spoke at the June event. “There is so much more that regions can do together than they can do apart.”

Every infrastructure choice made now carries obligations that will reverberate for generations.

“Architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham, who played such an influential role in shaping Chicago and was instrumental in the development of the skyscraper, famously said, ‘Make no little plans,’” CMAP’s Aleman said. “As we lead the development of The Century Plan, we’re hopeful that all leaders in the region are motivated to support and act on institutional reforms that honor that bold call to action and ensure that northeastern Illinois continues thriving for decades.”

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Solving for tomorrow, today

The Century Plan is a shared, overarching vision for northeastern Illinois that will guide policies for transportation, the environment, and the economy for decades into the future.

Throughout 2026 and 2027, CMAP is bringing together regional decision-makers and action-takers from government, civic, business, and community organizations to think big about the challenges and opportunities facing northeastern Illinois. Together, we’ll set a path for systems that support transportation, the economy, and the environment — with priorities defined by the region, for the region. The journey is just beginning, and we invite you to join the conversation!