Waiting for minutes and decades: Public transit and opportunities for reparative planning on Chicago’s far South Side

Public transit is highly inequitable in hyper-segregated Chicago. After being promised for 50 years, a rail extension is finally poised for construction on the far South Side, a majority Black area lacking metro rail service. Using interviews, we examine how riders and residents perceive the long-awaited Red Line Extension and current riding experiences, focusing on time—waiting for buses routinely and waiting for a long-promised project. While the extension is an important step for equity, it is not reparative planning; doubt and frustration expressed by interviewees reflect that they also see equity planning as falling short.