79th station ridership decreased by 60.3 percent during December 2020 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 station that saw the largest decrease in ridership was Merchandise Mart station with a 90.5 percent drop.
Train transit experienced a 77 percent decline in ridership overall during the month. Bus ridership across the city during the same month saw a decrease of 59.9 percent year over year. The bus route that saw the largest decrease was the Stockton/LaSalle Express with a decrease of 95.7 percent.
So far, the CTA has made no service cuts, even with the decrease in ridership. The Metra, which provides service to many of Chicago’s suburbs, has seen a 97 percent 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.
| Rank | Station | Ridership decline year over year (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merchandise Mart | 90.5 |
| 2 | Quincy/Wells | 90.1 |
| 3 | Monroe (Blue Line – Dearborn Subway) | 88.7 |
| 4 | Monroe (Red Line – State Street Subway) | 87.3 |
| 4 | Clark/Lake | 87.3 |
| 6 | UIC-Halsted | 86.5 |
| 7 | Grand (Red Line – North Side) | 86.3 |
| 7 | Southport | 86.3 |
| 7 | Washington/Wells | 86.3 |
| 10 | Washington | 85.7 |
| 10 | Irving Park (Brown Line) | 85.7 |
| 12 | Damen (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 85.5 |
| 13 | Addison (Brown Line) | 85.4 |
| 13 | LaSalle/Van Buren | 85.4 |
| 15 | Clinton (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 85.2 |
| 16 | California (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 85 |
| 16 | Montrose (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 85 |
| 16 | Jackson (Red Line – State Street Subway) | 85 |
| 19 | Oak Park (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 84.4 |
| 20 | Lake | 84.2 |
| 21 | Rockwell | 84 |
| 21 | Harrison | 84 |
| 21 | Western (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 84 |
| 21 | Jackson (Blue Line – Dearborn Subway) | 84 |
| 21 | Racine | 84 |
| 26 | Damen (Brown Line) | 83.4 |
| 27 | Armitage | 83.3 |
| 28 | LaSalle | 83.1 |
| 29 | Addison (Red Line – North Side) | 82.7 |
| 30 | Logan Square | 82.5 |
| 31 | Morgan | 82.4 |
| 31 | Paulina | 82.4 |
| 33 | Ridgeland | 82.3 |
| 33 | Clinton (Green Line – Lake Street) | 82.3 |
| 33 | Montrose (Brown Line) | 82.3 |
| 36 | Fullerton | 82.2 |
| 37 | Adams/Wabash | 82.1 |
| 38 | Wellington | 81.8 |
| 38 | Diversey | 81.8 |
| 40 | Division | 81.6 |
| 40 | Oak Park (Green Line – Lake Street) | 81.6 |
| 40 | State/Lake | 81.6 |
| 43 | Francisco | 81.4 |
| 44 | Chicago (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 81.3 |
| 45 | Sedgwick | 81.1 |
| 46 | Cermak-Chinatown | 80.6 |
| 47 | Grand (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 80.5 |
| 48 | Noyes | 80.4 |
| 48 | Cumberland | 80.4 |
| 50 | Addison (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 80.1 |
| 51 | Chicago (Brown Line) | 80 |
| 51 | Chicago (Red Line – North Side) | 80 |
| 51 | Linden | 80 |
| 54 | Belmont (Red Line – North Side) | 79.2 |
| 55 | Foster | 79.1 |
| 56 | Sheridan | 78.3 |
| 57 | Main | 77.6 |
| 58 | Clark/Division | 77.3 |
| 58 | Western (Brown Line) | 77.3 |
| 60 | North/Clybourn | 77 |
| 60 | Harold Washington Library | 77 |
| 60 | Halsted (Orange Line) | 77 |
| 63 | Loyola | 76.4 |
| 64 | O’Hare Airport | 76.3 |
| 65 | Sox-35th | 76.2 |
| 66 | Granville | 75.4 |
| 66 | Davis | 75.4 |
| 66 | Midway Airport | 75.4 |
| 69 | Dempster-Skokie | 75.1 |
| 70 | 35th/Archer | 74.9 |
| 70 | Washington/Wabash | 74.9 |
| 72 | South Boulevard | 74.5 |
| 73 | Lawrence | 74.3 |
| 74 | Thorndale | 74.2 |
| 75 | Cermak | 74 |
| 75 | Bryn Mawr | 74 |
| 77 | Oakton | 73.2 |
| 77 | Belmont (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 73.2 |
| 77 | Pulaski (Orange Line) | 73.2 |
| 80 | Berwyn | 73 |
| 80 | Austin (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 73 |
| 80 | Harlem (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 73 |
| 80 | Dempster | 73 |
| 80 | Irving Park (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 73 |
| 85 | Roosevelt | 72.4 |
| 86 | Argyle | 72.2 |
| 86 | Ashland (Green Line – Lake Street) | 72.2 |
| 88 | Morse | 72 |
| 88 | Western (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 72 |
| 88 | Rosemont | 72 |
| 88 | Kedzie (Brown Line) | 72 |
| 92 | Medical Center | 70.6 |
| 93 | Kimball | 70.2 |
| 94 | Jarvis | 69.8 |
| 95 | Jefferson Park | 68.6 |
| 96 | Wilson | 68 |
| 96 | 18th | 68 |
| 98 | Western (Orange Line) | 67.2 |
| 99 | 35-Bronzeville-IIT | 67.1 |
| 100 | Damen (Pink Line) | 67 |
| 101 | Kedzie (Orange Line) | 66.3 |
| 102 | Kedzie (Green Line – Lake Street) | 65.9 |
| 103 | Indiana | 65.7 |
| 104 | Polk | 65.6 |
| 105 | Forest Park | 64.9 |
| 106 | 47th (Red Line – Dan Ryan) | 64.5 |
| 107 | Garfield (Red Line – Dan Ryan) | 64.1 |
| 108 | 51st | 64 |
| 108 | Harlem (Green Line – Lake Street) | 64 |
| 108 | 43rd | 64 |
| 111 | Central (Purple Line – Evanston) | 63.4 |
| 111 | Austin (Green Line – Lake Street) | 63.4 |
| 113 | 63rd | 63.3 |
| 114 | East 63rd-Cottage Grove | 63.1 |
| 115 | Central Park | 62.4 |
| 116 | 87th | 62.1 |
| 117 | Kildare | 62 |
| 117 | Ashland (Orange Line) | 62 |
| 117 | Howard | 62 |
| 117 | Kedzie-Homan | 62 |
| 121 | 69th | 60.7 |
| 122 | 79th | 60.3 |
| 122 | California (Pink Line) | 60.3 |
| 124 | Harlem (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 59.8 |
| 125 | 47th (Green Line – South Elevated) | 59.5 |
| 126 | 95/Dan Ryan | 59.4 |
| 127 | 54th/Cermak | 59.1 |
| 128 | Garfield (Green Line – South Elevated) | 58.7 |
| 129 | Cicero (Green Line – Lake Street) | 58 |
| 130 | Western (Pink Line) | 57.3 |
| 131 | Kedzie (Pink Line) | 57.2 |
| 132 | Laramie | 56.8 |
| 133 | Central (Green Line – Lake Street) | 56.5 |
| 133 | Ashland/63rd | 56.5 |
| 135 | Cicero (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 56.2 |
| 136 | California (Green Line – Lake Street) | 55.9 |
| 137 | Kostner | 54.4 |
| 138 | Halsted (Green Line – Ashland/63rd Branch) | 53.2 |
| 139 | Pulaski (Green Line – Lake Street) | 53 |
| 139 | Pulaski (Pink Line) | 53 |
| 139 | Cicero (Pink Line) | 53 |
| 142 | King Drive | 52.4 |
| 143 | Conservatory | 43.9 |
| 144 | Pulaski (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 43.2 |
