Building on its success of passing a bold clean energy investment law for the state, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) turned to working on a vision for a clean, reliable and equitable transportation system for everyone. A key coalition player, Natural Resources Defense Council’s Illinois transportation campaign, partnered with Spitfire to develop a multi-year strategic communications plan for passing the Clean and Equitable Transportation Act (CETA). This package included a set of three bills to streamline jurisdiction and better fund Chicagoland’s transportation systems; support cleaner mobility options from electric cars, biking and walking; and reduce climate emissions from the transportation sector.
Spitfire developed a multiyear campaign plan (for c3 and c4 activities) that included compelling messaging, tailored to bring the voices of labor leaders, business leaders and tourism agencies. Spitfire crafted these messages to convince key audiences and decision-makers like the state legislature and governor to support CETA.
As the political landscape shifted in 2024 and the state legislature faced a transit fiscal cliff in 2025, Spitfire and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) focused their efforts on a video storytelling campaign to collect and share stories from key constituents. They sought out the experiences of residents who rely on a bus and rail system that is accessible, affordable and connected through Chicago’s suburban and urban areas. Spitfire set up coalition partners with an easy video collection tool called Vocal Video, with tailored questions in both English and Spanish for various transportation experiences, based on the partner organizations’ focus, demographics and geography.
Partners collected more than 100 videos, and Spitfire produced 22 single-person story videos as well as eight issue-based compilation videos, including “Illinoisans share their transit stories” and “Illinoisans share why transit matters to them.” NRDC then sent the engaging clips to key legislators and promoted them on social media through the ICJC coalition. The outreach efforts inspired Illinoisans to action to support fixing and funding Illinois’ transportation system ahead of the fall legislative session.
With this final push, in the wee hours of the morning on the last day of the legislative session in Springfield, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill to fund Chicago-area mass transit. This was a win for the climate and for improving mobility options for everyday Illinoisans for years to come.
