The Community Planning program provides funding and planning assistance for planning projects that benefit both the local community and the RTA transit system. The program is available to municipalities located in the RTA six-county service area, and funds such planning projects as:

• Station area / transit-oriented development plans
• Transit-oriented development guidelines
• Local transit improvement plans
• Coordinated paratransit plans
• Detailed Implementation Plans

The Subregional Planning program provides funding and planning assistance for county, subregional or corridor level transit and land use focused planning studies that serve the traditional suburb-to-city and intra-urban markets, as well as the non-traditional city-to-suburb markets. The program is available to counties, townships, councils of government/municipal associations, and groups of two or more municipalities in the RTA six-county service area: the City of Chicago, and the RTA Service Boards (CTA, Metra, and Pace). The program funds planning projects such as:

• Service development studies for existing, underserved or emerging markets
• The transit component of a county or subregional transportation plan
• Corridor or subregional level integrated transit and land use improvement studies
• Transit-oriented development and coordinated paratransit studies at the county, subregional or corridor level

The Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) portion of the program is a federally funded program that provides financial assistance for transportation services planned, designed, and carried out to meet the transportation needs of eligible low-income individuals and reverse commuters regardless of income. The New Freedom portion of the program provides new public transportation services and public transportation alternatives beyond those required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The program is available to private non-profit organizations, state or local government authorities, and public and private operators of public transportation that are located in the RTA’s six county service area or the urbanized portion of Kendall County. The program funds operating and/or capital projects such as:

• Fixed-route services oriented to reverse commuters and/or at times specific to access lower wage jobs
• Shuttle services to/from rail stations; ridesharing activities such as vanpool or carpools, and mobility management efforts
• Services that go beyond the ADA requirements, including expansion, spatially or temporally, beyond what is minimally required
• Travel training
• Administration of new voucher programs 

The Innovation, Coordination, and Enhancement (ICE) program, established as part of the 2008 Mass Transit Reform Legislation (P.A. 95-0708), provides operating and/or capital funding for projects that provide cost-effective ways to enhance the coordination and integration of public transportation, and develop and implement innovations to improve the quality and delivery of public transportation. The program is available to units of local government located in the RTA six-county service area and the RTA Service Boards (CTA, Metra, and Pace). Through a competitive selection process, the program funds operating and/or capital projects such as:

• Shuttle bus services from rail stations and/or bus transfer facilities to key regional destinations and major activity centers
• Rail and bus reverse commute, intra-community, and/or off-peak services that enhance regional mobility by facilitating interagency connections
• Creation of new interagency transfer opportunities at locations were services currently intersect (rail to rail, rail to bus, bus to bus)
• Physical modifications to facilitate transfers at existing inter-agency locations to enhance/improve critical local or regional connections
• Passenger amenities for customers that need to transfer, i.e. shelters, benches, kiosks, etc.