111th/King Drive ridership decreased by 16 percent during July compared to the previous year, according to the Chicago Transportation Authority.
The CTA calculates ridership by counting the customers who board a transit vehicle (bus or rail).
The U. of Chicago/Hyde Park route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 480.3 percent rise.
Bus and train traffic took a serious hit during the pandemic. The Metra, which provides service to many of Chicago’s suburbs, saw a 97% decrease in ridership according to the Active Transportation Alliance. According to the Federal Transit Authority, Chicago’s public transportation sector received $1.43 billion in bailout funds from the CARES act to combat the decrease in ridership.
However, the CTA claimed ridership had rebounded 56 percent in the first six months of the year. This isn’t a return to normal ridership levels, but CTA’s president Dorval R. Cart Jr. said weekday ridership has doubled since the initial shutdown.
| Rank | Route | Ridership increase from 2020 to 2021 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | U. of Chicago/Hyde Park | 480.3 |
| 2 | Navy Pier | 373.7 |
| 3 | Stockton/LaSalle Express | 226.3 |
| 4 | U. of Chicago/Kenwood | 196.4 |
| 5 | Water Tower Express | 168 |
| 6 | Clarendon/LaSalle Express | 163.3 |
| 7 | Ogilvie/Streeterville Express | 155.1 |
| 8 | Union/Streeterville Express | 139.9 |
| 9 | LaSalle | 137.3 |
| 10 | Bronzeville/Union Station | 113.5 |
| 11 | Stockton/Michigan Express | 109.7 |
| 12 | U. of Chicago Hospitals Express | 100.8 |
| 13 | Hyde Park Express | 97.5 |
| 14 | Sheridan | 92.7 |
| 15 | Sedgwick | 92.4 |
| 16 | Streeterville/Taylor | 90.1 |
| 17 | Sheridan/LaSalle Express | 88.6 |
| 18 | Inner Drive/Michigan Express | 84.7 |
| 19 | Clarendon/Michigan Express | 79.6 |
| 20 | Addison | 70.7 |
| 21 | Damen | 69.9 |
| 22 | Clark | 65.3 |
| 23 | Avon Express | 58.1 |
| 24 | 55th/Austin | 51.9 |
| 25 | Grand | 51.8 |
| 26 | Broadway | 51.5 |
| 27 | Outer Drive Express | 49.5 |
| 28 | Diversey | 46.6 |
| 29 | West 65th | 45.1 |
| 30 | Blue Island/26th | 43.2 |
| 31 | Chicago | 42.1 |
| 32 | Belmont | 42 |
| 33 | Central/Ridge | 40.9 |
| 34 | Archer | 40.5 |
| 35 | Jackson Park Express | 40 |
| 35 | North | 40 |
| 37 | Evanston Circulator | 38.2 |
| 38 | Narragansett/Ridgeland | 38.1 |
| 39 | Fullerton | 37.5 |
| 40 | Irving Park | 37.4 |
| 41 | Peterson | 34.7 |
| 42 | Montrose | 34.3 |
| 43 | 16th/18th | 34 |
| 43 | Armitage | 34 |
| 45 | Milwaukee | 32.5 |
| 45 | Lunt | 32.5 |
| 47 | Archer/Harlem | 32 |
| 47 | Lincoln | 32 |
| 47 | Halsted | 32 |
| 50 | Foster | 29.2 |
| 51 | South Pulaski | 28.6 |
| 52 | King Drive | 28.1 |
| 53 | State | 26.7 |
| 54 | Wentworth | 26.6 |
| 55 | 31st/35th | 26.3 |
| 56 | Harrison | 25.9 |
| 57 | Skokie | 25.7 |
| 58 | North Western | 24.8 |
| 59 | 31st | 24.3 |
| 60 | 55th/Narragansett | 24.2 |
| 61 | Lawrence | 24.1 |
| 62 | Northwest Highway | 23.6 |
| 63 | Harlem | 23.4 |
| 64 | California/Dodge | 22.7 |
| 65 | Kimball-Homan | 21.7 |
| 66 | Division | 21.5 |
| 67 | West Lawrence | 21.4 |
| 68 | Higgins | 19.7 |
| 69 | Garfield | 19.5 |
| 70 | California | 19.2 |
| 71 | North Central | 18.4 |
| 72 | Ashland | 18.3 |
| 72 | Devon | 18.3 |
| 74 | Cermak | 17.7 |
| 75 | South Shore Express | 17.4 |
| 76 | Western | 17.1 |
| 77 | North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. | 16.8 |
| 78 | 51st | 15.4 |
| 79 | Austin | 15.3 |
| 80 | Ashland Express | 13.8 |
| 81 | Pulaski | 13.4 |
| 82 | Halsted/95th | 13 |
| 83 | South Kedzie | 11.8 |
| 84 | South Damen | 10.8 |
| 85 | Madison | 10.3 |
| 86 | Central | 10.1 |
| 87 | Stony Island | 10 |
| 88 | Jackson | 9.4 |
| 89 | Pershing | 8.9 |
| 90 | 47th | 7.9 |
| 91 | Vincennes/111th | 6.4 |
| 92 | Jeffery Jump | 6.1 |
| 93 | East 103rd | 6 |
| 93 | West 63rd | 6 |
| 93 | Cottage Grove | 6 |
| 96 | 59th/61st | 4.9 |
| 97 | Kedzie | 4.4 |
| 98 | Cicero | 4.2 |
| 99 | South Cicero | 3.2 |
| 100 | 63rd | 3.1 |
| 101 | 71st/South Shore | 1.5 |
| 102 | Jeffery Local | 1.3 |
| 103 | 43rd | 1.2 |
| 104 | Western Express | 0.8 |
| 105 | Roosevelt | 0.4 |
| 106 | South Halsted | 0.2 |
| 106 | Wallace-Racine | 0.2 |
