Division ridership increased by 53.6 percent during April 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 646 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 | 646 |
| 2 | U. of Chicago Hospitals Express | 429.3 |
| 3 | Stockton/LaSalle Express | 389.7 |
| 4 | Streeterville/Taylor | 266.8 |
| 5 | Clarendon/LaSalle Express | 255.1 |
| 6 | Clarendon/Michigan Express | 245.5 |
| 7 | Inner Drive/Michigan Express | 235.3 |
| 8 | Navy Pier | 221.8 |
| 9 | 55th/Austin | 211.1 |
| 10 | Stockton/Michigan Express | 193.7 |
| 11 | Addison | 191 |
| 12 | Bronzeville/Union Station | 178.7 |
| 13 | Damen | 178.2 |
| 14 | Sheridan/LaSalle Express | 172.6 |
| 15 | Central/Ridge | 162.7 |
| 16 | Lunt | 151.4 |
| 17 | 55th/Narragansett | 149.2 |
| 18 | Harlem | 148.9 |
| 19 | 31st | 148.7 |
| 20 | Lincoln | 146.1 |
| 21 | Sedgwick | 145.3 |
| 22 | Narragansett/Ridgeland | 143.8 |
| 23 | Sheridan | 140.4 |
| 24 | North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. | 140 |
| 25 | Outer Drive Express | 138.9 |
| 26 | U. of Chicago/Kenwood | 135.8 |
| 27 | Montrose | 132.6 |
| 28 | Armitage | 132.2 |
| 29 | Hyde Park Express | 130.4 |
| 30 | Irving Park | 128.8 |
| 31 | West Lawrence | 127.5 |
| 32 | Diversey | 127.3 |
| 33 | Water Tower Express | 126.3 |
| 34 | Higgins | 124.6 |
| 35 | Clark | 124.3 |
| 36 | Peterson | 120.3 |
| 37 | California | 118.7 |
| 38 | Foster | 117.4 |
| 39 | Blue Island/26th | 116.4 |
| 40 | California/Dodge | 114.3 |
| 41 | Belmont | 113 |
| 42 | LaSalle | 110.8 |
| 43 | Fullerton | 107.7 |
| 44 | Skokie | 107.4 |
| 45 | Lawrence | 103 |
| 45 | Grand | 103 |
| 47 | Northwest Highway | 93.7 |
| 48 | North Central | 93.6 |
| 49 | 16th/18th | 92.3 |
| 50 | North Western | 91.6 |
| 51 | Milwaukee | 91.5 |
| 52 | Evanston Circulator | 90.9 |
| 53 | Broadway | 88.9 |
| 54 | Archer/Harlem | 88.8 |
| 55 | Archer | 87.9 |
| 56 | South Pulaski | 86.2 |
| 57 | Ogilvie/Streeterville Express | 83.3 |
| 58 | Union/Streeterville Express | 75 |
| 59 | Devon | 73.8 |
| 60 | Jackson Park Express | 72.5 |
| 61 | 51st | 71.6 |
| 62 | Harrison | 66.2 |
| 63 | 31st/35th | 65.1 |
| 64 | South Shore Express | 63.4 |
| 64 | Austin | 63.4 |
| 66 | Avon Express | 62.1 |
| 67 | Halsted | 59.7 |
| 68 | South Damen | 56.6 |
| 69 | Cermak | 56 |
| 69 | Wentworth | 56 |
| 71 | West 63rd | 54.8 |
| 72 | Division | 53.6 |
| 73 | Kimball-Homan | 52.7 |
| 74 | North | 52.3 |
| 75 | South Kedzie | 50.4 |
| 76 | Chicago | 47.3 |
| 77 | Pershing | 46.9 |
| 78 | King Drive | 46.2 |
| 79 | Jeffery Jump | 42.8 |
| 80 | West 103rd | 41.4 |
| 81 | Western | 39.9 |
| 82 | Ashland Express | 39.5 |
| 83 | 69th-UPS Express | 36.9 |
| 84 | Jeffery Manor Express | 36.1 |
| 85 | 47th | 35.3 |
| 86 | 59th/61st | 35 |
| 86 | Central | 35 |
| 88 | Roosevelt | 33.4 |
| 89 | Garfield | 33.3 |
| 90 | Western Express | 33 |
| 91 | South Cicero | 27 |
| 91 | Ashland | 27 |
| 93 | Halsted/95th | 25.9 |
| 94 | 95th | 25 |
| 94 | 43rd | 25 |
| 94 | Jackson | 25 |
| 97 | South Chicago | 24.4 |
| 98 | Cottage Grove | 22.9 |
| 99 | Wallace-Racine | 22.8 |
| 100 | 111th/King Drive | 21.6 |
| 101 | Stony Island | 21.5 |
| 102 | Vincennes/111th | 20 |
| 103 | State | 18.7 |
| 104 | Laramie | 16.9 |
| 105 | Cicero | 16.5 |
| 106 | Jeffery Local | 16 |
| 106 | Pullman Shuttle | 16 |
| 108 | East 103rd | 15.4 |
| 109 | South Halsted | 13.2 |
| 110 | Pulaski | 13.1 |
| 111 | 71st/South Shore | 12.2 |
| 112 | West 65th | 9.7 |
| 113 | Pullman/115th | 9.4 |
| 114 | 87th | 9.1 |
| 115 | 63rd | 8.3 |
| 116 | 67th-69th-71st | 7.4 |
| 117 | 74th-75th | 3.4 |
| 118 | 79th | 2.9 |
| 119 | South Michigan | 0.2 |
