Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

We're recognizing a team that successfully modernized our legacy traffic safety data collection and processing system.

We're continuing to celebrate CMAP's . The Data Engineering team's contributions made a significant difference by strengthening CMAP's status as a source for regional safety data.

Team members include Clarke-Shupe-Diggs, David Wells, Milo Shapey, and Sean Connelly.

Meet our , Rowan Foster (he/him)! Rowan joins CMAP as a geographic information systems intern, bringing a passion for urban development, mapping, and multimodal planning.

He is an undergraduate student at DePaul University, where he studies Geography with a focus on Urban Development and Planning, along with a minor in Sociology.

Rowan is excited to explore the connections between land use planning and bike and pedestrian safety, and to work alongside a team deeply committed to GIS and regional planning. This summer, Rowan hopes to strengthen his technical skills and gain hands‑on experience that will support his future work in housing and transportation fields.

Rowan plans to carry what he learns at CMAP into a career centered on data‑informed planning and community‑focused development.

Fun fact: Rowan has a collection of 20+ transit cards from cities he’s traveled to, his favorite is San Diego.

Welcome to the team, Rowan! We’re glad to have you.

CMAP’s Elizabeth Ginsberg will join leaders from the Michiana Area Council of Governments and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada for an Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) webinar on how MPOs are helping regions respond to transit fiscal cliffs.

The panel, Facing the Fiscal Cliff, will highlight CMAP’s Plan of Action for Regional Transit, which helped shape transformative state legislation to avert northeastern Illinois’ transit fiscal cliff and strengthen the region’s public transportation system through stable funding and governance reforms.

The webinar will take place Wednesday, June 17, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CT. The event is open to all, regardless of AMPO membership status. One AICP credit is pending.

👉Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/0jP96eG4TYuJSpkFIReAXg #/registration

Meet our , Lay’la Harmon (she/her)! Lay’la joins CMAP as a Peter’s Fellow in the Planning Department.

She is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design, where she is pursuing a Master’s in City Planning with a concentration in Housing, Community, and Economic Development.

Lay'la is excited to explore Chicago through the lens of planning at CMAP, from the food scene to the city’s rich cultural landscape. This summer, she hopes to build meaningful connections within CMAP and beyond, grow professionally, and learn from colleagues whose experience spans years of regional planning work.

Lay’la is confident that the lessons she gains this summer will have a lasting impact on her career. Within the next year, she plans to bring her learning back to her hometown of Chester, PA, contributing to stronger regional economic development strategies. She’s also eager to apply her CMAP experience to her studies next year and wherever she lands post‑graduation and hopefully staying in the MPO space.

Fun fact: Lay’la attended the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

Welcome to the team, Lay’la! We’re glad to have you.

We're honoring a teammate who made a meaningful difference on several of CMAP’s most complex and high-visibility efforts by helping teams stay focused, supported, and moving forward — especially when work becomes challenging.

We're continuing to celebrate CMAP's . Through her leadership and coordination of contributions to the Regional Transportation Plan and The Century Plan, Julie Reschke has played a key role in keeping momentum and ensuring teams can navigate through difficult moments productively.

Julie’s ability to maintain a positive, constructive tone — while still pushing work forward — has had a tangible impact on team culture and project outcomes.

👉Available now! Explore your community's data.

CMAP has released a new set of Community Data Snapshots for our region's 284 municipalities, 77 Chicago community areas, and 7 counties.

Each snapshot summarizes key details about demographics, employment, housing, transportation habits, and more.

What's new?
• Updated data from CMAP's latest Land Use Inventory.
• Improved commute data that better shows where residents work and where employees in a community travel from.

➡️Ready to check them out? Take a look: https://cmap.illinois.gov/news-updates/new-community-data-snapshots-help-communities-track-progress-and-plan-for-the-future/

Happy ! CMAP presenters were proud to join transportation leaders from across the region today at Transport Chicago 2026.

Throughout the conference, our team shared insights on some of the biggest issues shaping northeastern Illinois — from traffic safety and active transportation to congestion management, road usage charges, corridor collaboration, and the growing connection between transportation and the electric grid.

CMAP welcomed guests to our table to talk about The Century Plan, the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan for Greater Chicago, and the 2026 Regional Transportation Plan (on the first day of public comment for the RTP).

Thank you to Transport Chicago for bringing together planners, practitioners, advocates, and partners for important conversations about the future of mobility in our region.

Public comment is now open for northeastern Illinois’ draft 2026 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

The RTP will help guide how the region invests in and improves transit, roads and highways, freight, biking, walking, and accessible transportation for decades to come.

Review the draft RTP, air quality conformity determination, and FFY 2027–32 Transportation Improvement Program, and share your feedback: cmap.is/rtp

Meet our , Molly Long (they/them)! Molly is a regional policy and implementation Intern.

They are a graduate student at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, where they study Computational Analysis and Public Policy.

This summer, they’re excited to contribute to climate and traffic safety planning and evaluation at CMAP. They hope to deepen their understanding of Chicago’s policy and planning landscape and explore how their technical skills can best support meaningful, data‑driven change.

After completing their degree, they plan to pursue data‑centered public policy work in the Chicago region. They believe that technical skills only matter when paired with strong policy knowledge and an understanding of the processes that drive real impact and everything they learn this summer, from hands‑on work to broader context, will help them grow into a more effective policymaker.

Fun fact: Molly is a classically trained violinist who has performed with Yo‑Yo Ma and at Lollapalooza

Welcome to the team, Molly! We’re glad to have you.

We're recognizing a team that produced our first Comprehensive Climate Action Plan. The plan creates a roadmap that our region can use to reduce emissions, improve air quality and public health, and reduce regional inequities.

We're continuing to celebrate CMAP's . A lot of collaboration was required to move this project from start to finish, both internally at CMAP and with a wide array of partners across the region, state, and in Indiana and Wisconsin.

Led by Nora Beck, the team includes Aspen Walters, Austen Edwards, Claire Conzelmann, Clarke Shupe-Diggs, Enrique Castillo, Jen Moran, Jesse Altman, Joan Smedinghoff, Jules Voigt, Karly Cazzato, Kasia Hart, Kate Evasic, Katie Reigstad, Kelsey Pudlock, Lee Skuby, Martin Menninger, Matt Marth, Milo Shapey, Mitch Hirst, Natalie Kuriata, Nikolas Merten, Noah Harris, Prithvi Hedge, Russell Pietrowiak, Sam Pavlokovsky, Tom Murtha, and You Zhou.