The Transit-Friendly Communities Guide is your roadmap to creating equitable neighborhoods across the Chicago region that are safe and accessible to transit. This comprehensive resource, published by the RTA in January 2025, provides local decision-makers, developers, and community advocates with strategies and tools to design thriving communities centered around transit.
The RTA developed this guide as an actionable resource to support transit-friendly design and equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD). With a focus on improving accessibility, walkability, and sustainability, the guide offers practical solutions to create vibrant spaces where people can live, work, and play—while reducing reliance on cars. This guide is a direct implementation step of the RTA's strategic plan, Transit is the Answer.
The Transit-Friendly Communities Guide is full of tools to make transit more accessible to more people throughout the region and support residential and commercial development near transit. Across various topics, the Guidebook includes strategies and techniques that local decision-makers, the development community, and residents throughout the region can use to advocate for best practices on infrastructure and development near transit.
Transit-Friendly Design Concepts: Explore strategies for integrating transit access, walkability, and bike-friendly infrastructure into your community.
Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD): Learn how ETOD principles ensure access to transit and amenities for people of all incomes and abilities.
Land Use & Market Trends: Understand how changing demographics and consumer preferences drive opportunities for transit-friendly development.
Case Studies & Best Practices: Dive into real-world examples of transit-friendly projects from across the region and beyond.
Find out how to apply for support and learn more about the guide
📅 Mark your calendar! Be on the lookout for the next call for Community Planning projects to open in early 2026. Visit www.rtachicago.org/cp for more information when the call opens.
Watch a webinar designed for municipal planners, elected officials, planning agency staff, local government board members, and the public.
The session features a presentation of the RTA’s new Transit-Friendly Communities Guide, which provides a range of tools to make transit more accessible to more people throughout the region and support residential and commercial development near transit. A panel discussion follows featuring Chicago-area planners who have successfully applied the Guide’s best practices to foster equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) in their communities.
Read a recap and watch the webinar on the RTA Connections Blog.
