As part of a Capstone study process, UIUC Department of Urban and Regional Planning partnered with University of Illinois Extension to engage in a study as part of a process for examining CityLink bus routes, which have not been significantly modified in decades. Through this process CityLink also wanted to better address coordinated efforts between transit, land use planning and urban design. This regional scale and inter-agency in scope vision requires a new approach to thinking about and planning for transit in the Peoria region.

During the project, CityLink worked with UIUC and the Illinois Department of Transportation to preliminarily test concepts such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and value-capture strategies alongside the City of Peoria's recent use of form-based codes, complete streets, and downtown redevelopment.  The output was the start of a regional dialogue and urban design concepts that progress these ideas within a Transit-Oriented corridor stretching from Downtown through the Warehouse District and ultimately to suburban Bartonville and the airport.

University of Illinois Extension continues to provide a critical link connecting campus to communities in our unit. These types of engagement activities cut across the mission of teaching, research, and service. It is not a separate activity, but a particular approach to campus-community collaboration.