Regional Transportation Authority

The Community Planning program provides funding and planning assistance to applicants for planning projects that benefit the community and the regional transit system.  Eligible projects include transit-oriented development plans, transit access improvement plans, corridor plans and planning implementation projects.   The Community Planning program strives to not just plan for the future, but to provide assistance that achieves results. While the RTA and CMAP (through its Local Technical Assistance Program) both have separate technical assistance programs, applicants are now able to apply for both programs by using one application.  Through this coordination, the RTA and CMAP are able to offer planning and implementation assistance to an expanded base of eligible applicants, align all efforts with the GO TO 2040 Plan and provide interagency expertise, technical assistance and capacity. 

Municipalities, counties, townships, councils of government / municipal associations, groups of two or more municipalities, and the RTA Service Boards (Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace) located within the RTA's six-county service region (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties) are eligible to apply to the Community Planning Program.  A local funding match is not required for small scale Community Planning projects.  Larger transit-focused Community Planning projects may require a local match.  Applicants will be notified if a local match will be needed prior to project approval.  Individual "not to exceed" project budgets are set by the RTA during the project development process.  Project budgets should not be included as part of your application submittal. 

If you are seeking planning assistance for projects beyond the above listed categories, please consider CMAP's Local Technical Assistance Program (LTA).  The program provides staff assistance to communities across the Chicago metropolitan region to undertake planning projects that advance the principles of GO TO 2040. 

Please visit the RTAMS site to view the status of all previously approved RTA Community Planning studies, review completed reports, and search by various criteria.