Building Our Economy: Transportation for a New Illinois

Chicago Metropolis 2020 used the Burnham Plan Centennial to launch a comprehensive campaign to change the way we look at, plan for, finance and manage transportation in Illinois. The premise of its report is that transportation infrastructures and services must be built and operated to enable and support the Illinois economy of the future

The foundation of this document was set in the Metropolis Plan of 1999, which stated that “if we do the right things now” then we can build “one of the ten or fifteen great metropolitan centers of the new world economic order that is emerging.” More than a decade later, it is clear that “the right thing now” is to build Illinois’ new economy on a transportation framework of pragmatic policies, integrated plans, coordinated governance, and rational financing.

This report therefore begins with a sketch of the emerging sectors of a new Illinois economy, indicating how these opportunities are dependent upon a complex set of transportation decisions and assets. The report then specifies what needs to be done to capture those employment, profit and growth opportunities. And it concludes with a frank discussion of how to pay for transportation and adjust to a carbon-constrained environment.

When completed, the document will be available on the Chicago Metropolis 2020 Web site.