Transport Chicago

2026 Program

Registration / BREAKFAST

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM | 14th Floor

MORNING Keynote - LESLIE RICHARDS

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM | SAUGANASH GRAND BALLROOM

Morning Session 1

9:45 AM - 10:45 AM

  • 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | Wolf Point Ballroom

    Speakers:

    • Daniel La Spata, 1st Ward Alderman, City of Chicago

    • Pamela Maass, President & CEO, Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce

    • Amanda Kezios, Founder & Managing Partner, Mojo Spa

    • David Smith, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Project Development, CDOT

    • Pete Lauer (moderator), Independent mobility consultant

    Meet Me on Milwaukee (MMoM) is a pedestrianization initiative that closed a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue to vehicular traffic for three Sundays in fall 2025, transforming the commercial corridor into a car-free shopping and gathering space. The events drew thousands of visitors to the area, generating significant foot traffic for local businesses and demonstrating the viability of temporary street closures in a dense urban environment. Building on this initial success, organizers are planning three additional Sundays for 2026.

    This roundtable brings together the key stakeholders who made MMoM possible, including the 1st Ward Alderman, representatives from the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, a local business owner, and the Chicago Department of Transportation. The panel will examine the practical realities of implementing car-free street activations: navigating permitting processes, building business and community support, measuring economic and social impacts, and identifying the conditions necessary for success. Attendees will leave with concrete insights into how this model might be adapted for other commercial corridors throughout Chicago.

  • 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | LaSalle

    Speakers:

    • Victoria Barrett, Program Lead for Safe Systems, CMAP

    • Mayor Kelly Burke, Village of Evergreen Park

    • Eric Mueller, Planner, Epstein

    • Elizabeth Rocks, Planner, Epstein

    • Scott Hennings, Assistant Director, McHenry County Department of Transportation

    In 2024, more than 600 people were killed on the roads in northeastern Illinois. Another 4700 people were seriously injured. Traffic violence continues to be a critical issue in the region. In 2025, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the Illinois Department of Transportation, and six counties in northeastern Illinois-- Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will concluded work on the Safe Travel for All project, a regional safety action plan funded by USDOT’s Safe Streets for All grant program. 

    A critical focus of the safety work is making active transportation safer with protected and connected infrastructure across the region. Recent bicycle and pedestrian planning projects in suburban and rural contexts highlight the opportunities for local partners to encourage trips on foot and on bicycles, using innovative strategies and demonstration projects to engage and educate the traveling public, with a focus on safe and comfortable facilities. 

    This presentation will feature four speakers: Victoria Barrett, program lead for Safe Systems will share an overview of the Safe Travel for All program of work, including some of the resources available to partners throughout the region; Scott Hennings, from McHenry County Department of Transportation will share his experience of the McHenry County Safety Action Plan process and the county’s recent success winning a federal grant from the most recent round of Safe Streets for All funding; Mayor Kelly Burke from Evergreen Park will share some insights from the Cook County safety action and the community’s recent award to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety. 

  • 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | Steamboat Hotel

    Speakers:

    • Dimitris Nioras, Senior Manager, Service Planning, CTA

    • Amanda Madrigal, Service Planner III – Bus, CTA

    • Trevor Preddy, Service Planner II – Bus, CTA

    • Amy Conrad, Senior Manager, Bus Scheduling Design and Development, CTA

    • Quentin Shipley-Mellon, Traffic Planner III, CTA

    • Eric Munn, Director, Marketing, CTA

    In 2025, CTA implemented a series of service improvements to Chicago’s bus service. The Frequent Network was introduced, which is a set of 20 bus routes with 10 minutes or better service all day, every day, at every location along the route. Second, the Pulaski Corridor was redesigned with the extension of route #53 Pulaski south to Ford City and the truncation of route #53A South Pulaski to the Orange Line. Third, the California Corridor was connected by extending route #93 California/Dodge south from the Brown Line to the Logan Square Blue Line station, connecting to the #94 California and numerous east-west bus corridors. Fourth, route #75 74th-75th was extended to 79th/Western, improving connections to an isolated area in Chicago’s South Side. Last, various improvements to the span of service and the Owl network were introduced to improve late night coverage around the entire city.

    Planning for these projects had started in 2024, when these projects came as first priorities from a list of projects that were developed at the time. The CTA Service Planning team will start by walking through the implemented projects, describing the process that led to their development and explaining the reasons behind some of the decisions that were made. The Scheduling and Traffic Planning teams will provide insight in the infrastructure planning and scheduling details during implementation. Last, the Marketing team will summarize the promotional and outreach efforts that were made to raise awareness of these changes and engage with the public.

    Finally, the CTA will provide a performance summary of these changes, highlighting the successes and compromises that were made in the process.

  • 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | Western Stage House

    Speakers:

    • Kelly Wenger, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD)

    • Kristen Lueken, AECOM

    The update to NICTD’s 20-Year Strategic Plan is characterized by a period of resiliency and retention following recent completion of several major expansion projects,including Double Track Northwest Indiana, construction of the Monon Corridor, Metra Electric District capacity upgrades, bridge work, and system-wide signal and Positive Train Control improvements. With these initiatives largely underway or completed, NICTD has updated its strategic plan for the next 20 years, identifying major capital projects and programs that will fulfill a core customer promise of safe, reliable, and on-time services. The success of improvements will be measured by its expected ridership growth as a result of dependable operations. 

    Key to this process has been understanding post-pandemic shifts in workforce and communing patterns, identifying opportunities to leverage NICTD’s current assets and recent investments to enhance services outside the traditional Indiana to Chicago work trip. The plan emphasizes the basics - reliable vehicles, customer safety, and infrastructure projects that enhance train speed and reliability, to retain and attract new customers.

Morning Session 2

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM or 12:15 PM (see session details)

  • 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM | Wolf Point Ballroom

    Speakers

    • Jane Wilberding, HNTB

    • David Powe, CDOT

    • Sarah FioRito, City of Evanston

    • Remel Terry, Equiticity

    • Ryan Ruehle, Cook County DoTH

    Bike share in Chicago has evolved from a pilot into a true transportation system, with interest in expanding into suburban and lower‑density communities across the region. But whether deploying in downtown Chicago or exploring new municipal contexts, the path to adoption is never straightforward. This session highlights different stages of growth and lessons learned from the successes of 13 million trips in Chicago, expanding boundaries in Evanston, alternative models in North Lawndale, and Cook County’s efforts to support regional scale. Featuring practitioners and advocates navigating these tradeoffs, the session offers practical lessons on what it takes to scale bikeshare and how communities can approach their own next steps.

  • 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM | LaSalle

    Speakers:

    • Eric Munn, CTA Director of Marketing

    • Lucien Liz-Lepiorz, CTA Customer Experience Senior Manager

    • Jason Meter, CTA Senior Manager, Strategic Planning - Bus

    • Dr. Kirk E. Harris, MPA, JD, Ph.D., Esq., The Endeleo Institute

    • Adonnis Platt, Grow Greater Englewood

    • Lucy Chen, HNTB (Moderator)

    Strong transit systems are built on relationships with riders, communities, and partners. This panel brings together panelists from across CTA’s Strategy and Innovation division and community organizations to explore how CTA is combining grassroots collaboration with modern rider communication to strengthen Chicago’s transit network and the community’s trust in CTA.

    As part of recent bus priority initiatives, CTA and CDOT partnered with the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to bring meaningful engagement into the heart of communities. TEN is a coalition of South and West-side Chicago CBOs that emphasizes engagement rooted in how communities experience their environment. Since 2023, TEN has worked with CBOs to raise awareness about CTA and CDOT's various bus-related initiatives, build relationships that prioritize community voices, and identify community priorities. By funding CBO-led grassroots efforts, TEN has empowered communities to engage effectively with transit agencies through community town halls, focus groups, field visits, aldermanic engagement, and more.

    CTA has also recently developed new internal initiatives to speak directly to customers through a new multi-faceted marketing strategy and to solicit feedback through CTA's Rider Lab, a customer engagement program which launched in 2025. The Rider Lab program allows members of the public to volunteer (long projects offer compensation) to provide feedback on new projects and help CTA answer important questions. CTA's new marketing strategy that gets dynamic messaging in front of potential riders early and often. By leveraging programmatic digital media, local sponsorships, and social media influencers, the CTA has been able to reach a range of rider types with messaging unique to them.

  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Steamboat Hotel

    Presentation 1: Women Walk at Midnight

    Speaker: Prithvi Hegde, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

    Women Walk at Midnight is a global initiative in which women gather to walk together at midnight to reclaim the streets. Prithvi Hegde draws from interviews with organizers across the globe and analyses how the practice adapts to cities’ physical and social infrastructure. The presentation also engages with how grassroots initiatives engage with the broader process of improving policy and infrastructure in support of safe mobility.

    Presentation 2: Safe Routes to School : A Centralized Planning Approach

    Speaker: Irene Henry, Mead & Hunt

    Irene Henry analyzes the centralized planning approach to create safer conditions within school zones in Washington, D.C. The D.C. program offers a case model for speed, scale, and efficiency of a comprehensive Safe Routes to School program. The model also offers lessons on the possibilities and limitations of a centralized, top-down approach to planning.

    Presentation 3: Whiteness and Walk Score’s Top Ten Cities

    Speaker: Dr. Kate Lowe (she/her), UIC College of Urban Planning and Policy

    Dr. Kate Lowe examines the ten nationally most walkable cities, according to a Walk Score. This widely used algorithm can reflect racially disparate destination proximity, which is tied to inequitable investment flows.  Findings show racially privileged commute walking where proximity favors utilitarian trips, along with other racialized patterns.

  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Western Stage House

    Presentation 1: Temporary Changes, Lasting Impact: Quick‑Builds & Street Safety in Normal, Illinois

    Speakers:

    • Alex Hanson, Director of Transportation Planning, TYLin

    • Rachael Aziz, Co-Founder, All Together

    • Grace Li, Planner, All Together

    The Town of Normal and Illinois State University adapted Chicago's quick-build street safety playbook for a smaller, auto-oriented community through the Pedestrian & Roadway Campus Safety Initiative. The project installed temporary interventions – including painted curb extensions, turn-calming treatments, protected bike lane pilots, and a pedestrian plaza – while prioritizing community relationships alongside creative design strategies. The resulting lessons offer a practical roadmap for smaller and mid-size municipalities and campus districts seeking creative, cost-effective, and safety-forward methods to test street transformations.

    Presentation 2: The Lake City Loop: Bringing Big City Transit to Small City Indiana

    Speakers:

    • Jeremiah Cox, Senior Regional Transit Planner, Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG)

    • Aidan McHugh, Transit Planner, MACOG

    In 2024 and 2025, Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) guided the Koscisuko Area Bus Service (KABS) through the planning, public engagement, and implementation of a new deviated fixed route service in Warsaw, Indiana. The Warsaw area was not used to fixed route bus service, but local officials embraced the concept to help make the new route a reality. In September 2025, about a year after the planning process began, the Lake City Loop officially launched in Warsaw and Winona Lake, with a service area population of 20,000.

Lunch Keynote - Il State Senator Ram Villivalam

12:45 PM - 1:45 PM | SAUGANASH GRAND BALLROOM

Poster Sessions

1:45 PM - 3:00 PM | WOLF POINT RECEPTION

Afternoon SEssion 1

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Wolf Point Ballroom

    Speakers:

    • Jennifer “Sis” Killen, Superintendent, Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways

    • Rocco Zucchero, Principal, Metro Strategies

    Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways has launched Cook County’s Next Long-Range Transportation Plan – a strategic roadmap that will guide how the County invests in and improves its transportation system. The plan will build on the foundation of Connecting Cook County, the 2016 Long-Range Transportation Plan, and respond to evolving transportation needs and lessons learned over the last decade.

    Join Superintendent Jennifer “Sis” Killen in a fireside chat to discuss priority transportation topics for the next generation. Superintendent Killen will share successes from Connecting Cook County and introduce potential areas of focus for policies to be included in the next plan. Following the discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to join in the planning process with a live digital survey about their policy and investment priorities, followed by a Q and A with Superintendent Killen.

    This interactive session will give attendees access to a regional decision-maker, and an opportunity to weigh in on priorities for the future of transportation in Cook County.

  • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | LaSalle

    Speakers:

    • Dr. P.S. Sriraj, Director of the Urban Transportation Center at UIC

    • Kim Zimmerman, Transit Director for North Central Area Transit (NCAT)

    • Greg Gates, Executive Director, Reagan Mass Transit District

    • David Schafer, Bureau Chief, Transit Operations, IDOT

    • Hannah Schmidt, Transit Planning Manager, IDOT

    • Jacob Connor, Transit Planner, SRF Consulting

    SB 2111 is best known for restructuring transit governance in Northeast Illinois, but it also includes several provisions with real implications for downstate transit providers, many of which operate services in an environment of complex policies and challenging land use patterns. This session will explore how the NITA bill bolsters support for both singular and statewide efforts to improve downstate communities, including:

    • Activating an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Transit Innovation, Integration, and Reform focused on transit outside Northeast Illinois, creating a new forum to influence statewide priorities, data expectations, and integration with intercity bus and rail.

    • Increasing the Downstate Operating Assistance Program (DOAP) reimbursement rate from 65% to 80% beginning in FY 2027, potentially easing local match pressure and enabling previously cost-prohibitive service improvements.

    • Reinforcing proposed recommendations from the statewide public transportation plan, Next Move Illinois, and the Blue Ribbon Commission report.

    • Service changes and expansion for single (North Central Area Transit) and multi-county transit providers (Reagan Mass Transit District).

    This moderated discussion pairs research, operator, and policy perspectives. Dr. P.S. Sriraj (Director, UIC Urban Transportation Center) will frame what these changes mean for broader outcomes, drawing on UIC’s 2025 research on theReturn on Investment for Rural Demand-Response Transit in Illinois. Kim Zimmerman (Transit Director, North Central Area Transit) and Greg Gates (Executive Director, Reagan Mass Transit District) will bring the frontline operator perspectives, discussing what the law changes for service planning, budgets, workforce constraints, and rider needs. They’ll touch onNCAT’s Strategic Plan and Reagan MTD’s recent service expansion. David Schafer (Bureau Chief, IDOT Transit Operations) and Hannah Schmidt (Transit Program Planning Manager, IDOT Bureau of Planning) will provide additional context on statewide transit operations, implementation activities of SB2111, and how these efforts interact with broader IDOT planning initiatives.

     Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide input at this critical moment of transit reform in the state.

  • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Steamboat Hotel

    Speakers:

    • Elizabeth Ginsberg, Senior Policy Analyst, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

    • Noah Harris, Policy Analyst, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

    • Nikolas Merten, Policy Analyst, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

    The Chicago region faces increasingly complex transportation challenges. Severe congestion, fiscal pressures, and growing travel demand all strain a system that can no longer rely on traditional, fragmented solutions to deliver the reliability and performance that residents and businesses need. These challenges reflect both the scale of the regional economy and the cumulative impacts of decades of infrastructure decisions, shifting travel patterns, and rising costs of maintaining and modernizing the system. Meeting these needs requires coordinated, regional approaches that strengthen mobility, support economic vitality, and position northeastern Illinois for long-term resilience.

    As the region’s metropolitan planning organization, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will highlight how it is leveraging its core planning responsibilities and the recently published Regional Transportation Plan to respond to these challenges. The session will explore how CMAP is advancing two key areas of policy development: a strengthened congestion management approach that focuses on coordinated, data-informed strategies, and an exploration of road usage charges as a modern, more sustainable revenue mechanism to replace the motor fuel tax. Together, these initiatives reflect CMAP’s role in aligning partners, planning for long-term financial risk, and supporting a transportation system that meets the diverse needs of communities across the region.

    Speakers will also demonstrate how these strategies intersect, underscoring the importance of considering mobility and revenue tools in tandem. By combining pricing-based approaches with demand management strategies and operational improvements, the region can improve travel reliability, enhance user experience, and ensure a more sustainable and adaptable system for decades to come. Attendees will gain insight into the opportunities and implementation pathways associated with both congestion management and road usage charges, and how these approaches can jointly strengthen the future of transportation in northeastern Illinois.

  • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Western Stage House

    Speakers:

    • Kasia Hart, Intergovernmental Affairs Principal, CMAP

    • Jonathan Garcia, Assistant for Special Projects in the Office of the Secretary, IDOT

    • Molly Poppe, Chief Innovation Officer, CTA

    • Steve Mascheri, Vice President, Capital Construction, CTA

    • Justine Sydello, Vice President and Transportation Advisory Services Leader, CDM Smith

    The I-290 Blue Line corridor links the heart of Chicago with the city’s West Side and extends to some of the region’s most historic suburbs. Moving over 14,000 transit riders and 200,000 vehicles each day, this corridor is vital to the region’s economic, educational, and cultural fabric. To drive corridor improvements, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) the Connect Program. This partnership is coordinating across agencies to improve safety, accessibility, economic development, and infrastructure along the corridor.  

    While the Connect Program is a long-term effort, we’ve already started making improvements. Using funding that IDOT and CTA have secured, as well as additional planning investments from local agencies, we’ve been addressing immediate needs and conducting construction work required to support future implementation. The completed and upcoming funded projects are laying the foundation for future efforts that will further address corridor challenges. Building on this momentum, the Connect Program is focusing on four key objectives: establishing a unified corridor vision, developing a funding and finance plan, coordinating implementation, and engaging local communities. 

    This multi-agency panel will be a moderated presentation that will provide an overview of the Connect Program and discuss the collaboration in more detail, followed by a facilitated discussion with all three agencies. Our panel will discuss how the CDO was formed, key objective areas, and overall agency collaboration. Attendees will learn about the CDO partnerships, as well as some of the advance work currently underway and what’s on the horizon for the I-290/Blue Line corridor.

Afternoon SEssion 2

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM

  • 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | Sauganash Ballroom

    Speakers:

    • Audrey Wennink, Senior Director, Metropolitan Planning Council

    • Maulik Vaishnav, NITA Implementation Lead, Office of the Governor - Illinois

    • Tom Kotarac, Senior Vice President, Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago

    • Bria Scudder, Deputy Governor for Infrastructure, Public Safety, Environment & Energy, State of Illinois

    • Jonathan Garcia, Assistant for Special Projects, Office of the Secretary, IDOT

    Transformative transit legislation has recently passed in Illinois, and the success of the new Northeastern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) will depend on how effectively it is implemented. Formally established on June 1, 2026, just weeks before the Transport Chicago Conference, NITA will take on major new responsibilities including regional transit planning, service standards, fare integration, rider safety, and accessibility planning. This panel will explore the early steps being taken to guide the transition, key milestones established in the legislation, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. Panelists will also discuss the role of the Illinois Department of Transportation in advancing transit integration and coordination across the region.

  • 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | LaSalle

    Speakers:

    • Sidney Kenyon, Transportation Director, Village of Schaumburg

    • Brian Budny, Deputy Chief of Police, Village of Deerfield

    • Rudy Faust, Board Member, Ride Illinois

    • Eric Czarnota, Program Manager for Transportation, Northwest Municipal Conference

    • Brian Larson, Program Associate for Transportation, Northwest Municipal Conference

    E-scooters.  E-bikes.  E-motos.  E-verything!  In recent years, e-mobility has exploded in popularity in Northeast Illinois as rider enjoy increased mobility, ease of travel, flexibility of storage, and lower cost. But safety concerns, especially around other modes, have worried advocates and officials alike.

    In the beginning of Summer of 2025, in response to an explosion of popularity, suburban Chicago communities enacted a wide range of regulations intended to define e-mobility devices and determine who can ride them, where they can ride, and what the penalties should be for non-compliance.  Spurring from those regulations throughout Chicagoland, local governments worked together to push the State to take action.  Legislative efforts since then have sought to preserve public safety while providing cohesive rules to ride e-devices.

    Led by professionals representing Ride Illinois; local government and the Northwest Municipal Conference; and public safety, this discussion will highlight the different perspectives about e-mobility in communities around the region.  This discussion will also highlight how local governments pushed the State to act on behalf of the public interest.  The goal of this session is to share those perspectives, share common interests, and identify opportunities for advancement of the topic. 

  • 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | Western Stage House

    Speakers:

    • Jesse Altman, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

    • Tim Farquer, Bus2Grid

    • Tim Milburn, Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation

    • Tom Skawski, Comed

    As vehicle electrification accelerates, the connection between transportation systems and the electric grid is becoming one of the most important infrastructure challenges facing the region. Historically, transportation and energy systems were planned largely independently. But as transit agencies, fleets, freight operators, and communities electrify vehicles – while utilities also prepare for building electrification, data centers, and industrial growth – those systems are becoming increasingly interconnected.  

    This panel will explore what that shift means in practice. How should transportation agencies, utilities, local governments, and planners coordinate differently as electrification scales? What challenges are emerging already? And what new planning relationships may need to support a reliable, affordable, and equitable transition?   

    Panelists from ComEd, Bus2Grid, and Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation – moderated by CMAP will discuss:  

    • Current efforts underway to support vehicle electrification and transportation-grid integration. 

    • Lessons learned from early implementation and coordination efforts 

    • Key technical, financial, operational and planning challenges 

    • How transportation and energy planning may need to evolve as electrification accelerates.  

    The session will conclude with a forward-looking discussion on how the region can proactively align transportation planning, utility investment, land use, and infrastructure decision-making to support a more coordinated electrified future.

  • 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | Steamboat Hotel

    Presentation 1: The Multi-Organizational Push to have the City of Chicago Acquire, Improve & Operate the Chicago Intercity Bus ("Greyhound") Terminal

    Speakers:

    • Joseph P. Schwieterman, Professor in the School for Public Service and Director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University

    • Nathale Nicoletti, graduate student at DePaul University

    This presentation discusses the significant role of the Chicago Intercity Bus (“Greyhound”) Station at 625 W. Harrison and reviews the efforts underway to bring the facility under public ownership. It will review the services by the station’s four bus lines and explore why the facility is critical to our region, and update on the municipal acquisition effort.

    Presentation 2: Delivering Electrification Faster: Pace’s Progressive Design-Build Garage Modernization

    Speakers:

    • Chris Martel, Senior Vice President, CDM Smith

    • Charlotte Obodzinski, Department Manager of the Priority Project Management Office, Pace Suburban Bus

    This presentation discusses Phase I of the Pace North Division Garage modernization, which established the critical infrastructure required to support the initial deployment of battery electric buses (BEBs) while maintaining uninterrupted operations at an active transit facility. The work focused on outdoor charging infrastructure, utility expansion, and major civil/site improvements that would support both immediate operations and future facility expansion. The progressive design-build delivery model was instrumental in keeping the project on schedule, as early collaboration between Pace, CDM Smith, F.H. Paschen, and ComEd enabled rapid decision-making, early utility coordination, and pre-purchase of long-lead electrical equipment.

Happy HOUR REception

4:15 PM - 6:00 PM | WOLF POINT BALLROOM

Transport Chicago 2026

Friday, June 12th

voco, Chicago Downtown

350 W Wolf Point Plaza Building 1

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