Chicago's South and West sides are systematically underserved by the CTA — longer wait times, fewer express routes, and bus networks designed to connect residents to downtown rather than to the jobs, hospitals, and schools within their own communities. This is not a secret. It is a documented, persistent pattern that predates every recent transit plan.
The Transit Justice Atlas is a participatory research and mapping project that makes this inequity visible, legible, and actionable — producing policy-facing deliverables designed for city council engagement rather than academic audiences.
Participatory mapping
CTA data analysis
Community co-research
Policy brief design
CTA GTFS feed
Chicago Data Portal
Census access metrics
Community input
City council · CDOT
Transit advocacy orgs
Community stakeholders
"Transit inequity in Chicago is measurable and mapped. The question this project answers is: why has the data not translated into policy action — and what design intervention closes that gap?"
Transit access is not distributed equally across Chicago. The gap between the North Side and the South and West sides is structural — built into service frequency, route design, and infrastructure investment decisions made over decades.
The Atlas is not a top-down data visualization. It is built around community co-research — residents mapping their own experience of the transit system against the official data. The gap between what the data shows and what residents live is itself a key research output.
Facilitated sessions in South and West Side neighborhoods where residents map their own transit routes, identify gaps, and annotate the official CTA map with lived experience data.
Community input layered over CTA schedule data, Census demographics, employment centers, healthcare facilities, and grocery access — making the structural relationship between transit and opportunity visible.
Research outputs translated into policy-facing documents designed for city council presentation — not academic papers. Visual, specific, and structured around decision-making rather than documentation.
The problem with most transit equity research is not the data — it's the format. Academic papers do not move aldermen. The Atlas is designed specifically for the room where decisions get made, not the room where they get studied.
Ward-level transit access summary: current service levels, gap analysis, and specific improvement recommendations — formatted for a 5-minute briefing, not a 50-page report.
Spatial analysis of underserved corridors, frequency gaps, and missing connections — structured to align with CTA's existing planning metrics and budget cycles.
A public-facing version of the research maps — accessible, legible, and annotated with community voice — for use by neighborhood organizations and transit advocacy groups.
A structured evidence package combining data analysis, community testimony, and comparative research from cities that have successfully addressed similar transit equity gaps.
Multi-layer spatial maps showing transit frequency, job accessibility, healthcare access, and community-annotated gaps across Chicago's South and West sides.
Quantitative analysis of service disparities using CTA schedule data, Census demographics, and Chicago Data Portal resources — with community input overlay.
Ward-level one-page briefs and a citywide summary designed for city council presentation — specific recommendations, not general observations.
A replicable community co-research methodology adaptable to other Chicago neighborhoods or other cities facing similar transit equity gaps.
Full atlas, maps, and policy briefs available on request — contact →