Medical Center station ridership increased by 49.3 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).
Addison (Red Line – North Side) station saw the largest increase in ridership with a 485 percent rise.
Rail and bus 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 | Station | Ridership increase from 2020 to 2021 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addison (Red Line – North Side) | 485 |
| 2 | Harrison | 327.2 |
| 3 | Grand (Red Line – North Side) | 266.4 |
| 4 | Merchandise Mart | 236.4 |
| 5 | Southport | 234.2 |
| 6 | Damen (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 216.3 |
| 7 | Armitage | 196.2 |
| 8 | Sedgwick | 195.9 |
| 9 | Quincy/Wells | 195.6 |
| 10 | Noyes | 195.5 |
| 11 | Cermak-Chinatown | 195.1 |
| 12 | Morgan | 189.1 |
| 13 | California (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 185.8 |
| 14 | Fullerton | 185.7 |
| 15 | Monroe (Blue Line – Dearborn Subway) | 181.3 |
| 16 | Monroe (Red Line – State Street Subway) | 178.5 |
| 17 | Linden | 177 |
| 18 | Foster | 171.5 |
| 19 | LaSalle | 170 |
| 20 | Argyle | 168.3 |
| 21 | Clark/Division | 163.8 |
| 22 | Jackson (Red Line – State Street Subway) | 163.5 |
| 23 | Adams/Wabash | 163.3 |
| 24 | Grand (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 162.8 |
| 25 | Division | 158.2 |
| 26 | Lake | 158 |
| 27 | Chicago (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 154.5 |
| 28 | Western (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 151.9 |
| 29 | Washington | 151.5 |
| 30 | Belmont (Red Line – North Side) | 149.6 |
| 31 | Paulina | 148.9 |
| 32 | Damen (Brown Line) | 145.3 |
| 32 | Wellington | 145.3 |
| 34 | Addison (Brown Line) | 142.6 |
| 35 | Diversey | 140.3 |
| 36 | O’Hare Airport | 138.8 |
| 37 | Jackson (Blue Line – Dearborn Subway) | 138.3 |
| 38 | Sox-35th | 136 |
| 38 | Harold Washington Library | 136 |
| 38 | Chicago (Red Line – North Side) | 136 |
| 41 | Cermak | 130.6 |
| 42 | Clark/Lake | 129.4 |
| 43 | Montrose (Brown Line) | 128.6 |
| 44 | State/Lake | 128.4 |
| 45 | Clinton (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 126.1 |
| 46 | Irving Park (Brown Line) | 125.4 |
| 47 | Washington/Wells | 124.9 |
| 48 | Logan Square | 122 |
| 48 | Sheridan | 122 |
| 50 | Clinton (Green Line – Lake Street) | 117.6 |
| 51 | North/Clybourn | 113.1 |
| 52 | Racine | 113 |
| 52 | Rockwell | 113 |
| 54 | Francisco | 111.6 |
| 55 | Ridgeland | 108.7 |
| 56 | UIC-Halsted | 108.1 |
| 57 | Dempster | 106.8 |
| 58 | Chicago (Brown Line) | 104.6 |
| 59 | Washington/Wabash | 102.7 |
| 60 | Oak Park (Green Line – Lake Street) | 98.4 |
| 61 | LaSalle/Van Buren | 96.1 |
| 62 | Addison (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 95.5 |
| 63 | Bryn Mawr | 95.4 |
| 64 | Wilson | 95.1 |
| 65 | Dempster-Skokie | 94.9 |
| 66 | Roosevelt | 87.3 |
| 67 | Granville | 87.2 |
| 67 | Midway Airport | 87.2 |
| 69 | Cumberland | 86.3 |
| 70 | Main | 85.9 |
| 71 | Thorndale | 81.2 |
| 71 | Western (Brown Line) | 81.2 |
| 73 | Damen (Pink Line) | 80.7 |
| 74 | 18th | 78 |
| 74 | Davis | 78 |
| 76 | Loyola | 76.6 |
| 77 | Rosemont | 76.1 |
| 78 | Oak Park (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 75.7 |
| 79 | Belmont (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 74.8 |
| 80 | Ashland (Green Line – Lake Street) | 68.8 |
| 81 | South Boulevard | 66 |
| 82 | 35-Bronzeville-IIT | 64.5 |
| 83 | Irving Park (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 63.8 |
| 84 | Oakton | 63.3 |
| 85 | Harlem (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 62.4 |
| 86 | 35th/Archer | 61.8 |
| 87 | Halsted (Orange Line) | 60 |
| 88 | Jarvis | 55.6 |
| 89 | Central (Purple Line – Evanston) | 53.6 |
| 90 | Morse | 53.5 |
| 91 | Pulaski (Orange Line) | 51.8 |
| 92 | California (Pink Line) | 51.4 |
| 93 | Polk | 51.2 |
| 94 | Medical Center | 49.3 |
| 95 | Jefferson Park | 48.8 |
| 96 | Montrose (Blue Line – O’Hare) | 46.7 |
| 97 | Kedzie (Brown Line) | 45.5 |
| 98 | Kimball | 44.6 |
| 99 | 54th/Cermak | 43.1 |
| 100 | Kedzie (Orange Line) | 39.9 |
| 101 | Western (Pink Line) | 38.7 |
| 102 | Western (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 35.9 |
| 102 | Harlem (Green Line – Lake Street) | 35.9 |
| 104 | Western (Orange Line) | 34.8 |
| 105 | Ashland (Orange Line) | 34.1 |
| 106 | Garfield (Green Line – South Elevated) | 34 |
| 107 | Kedzie (Pink Line) | 31.7 |
| 108 | Conservatory | 31.6 |
| 109 | Austin (Green Line – Lake Street) | 28.2 |
| 110 | Howard | 26.6 |
| 111 | Austin (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 24.1 |
| 112 | California (Green Line – Lake Street) | 21.4 |
| 113 | Garfield (Red Line – Dan Ryan) | 18.7 |
| 114 | Cicero (Pink Line) | 17.7 |
| 115 | East 63rd-Cottage Grove | 17.1 |
| 116 | Harlem (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 16.9 |
| 117 | 47th (Red Line – Dan Ryan) | 16.3 |
| 118 | Kostner | 16 |
| 119 | Indiana | 14.8 |
| 120 | 51st | 14.1 |
| 121 | Forest Park | 14 |
| 121 | Ashland/63rd | 14 |
| 121 | Central Park | 14 |
| 124 | 43rd | 12.4 |
| 125 | Pulaski (Pink Line) | 10.3 |
| 126 | 69th | 10.1 |
| 127 | Halsted (Green Line – Ashland/63rd Branch) | 9.4 |
| 128 | 47th (Green Line – South Elevated) | 7.4 |
| 129 | Cicero (Green Line – Lake Street) | 6.5 |
| 130 | Kedzie-Homan | 6.4 |
| 131 | 87th | 5.4 |
| 131 | Laramie | 5.4 |
| 133 | Pulaski (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 4.6 |
| 134 | Central (Green Line – Lake Street) | 3 |
| 134 | Cicero (Blue Line – Forest Park) | 3 |
| 136 | 79th | 2.3 |
| 137 | 63rd | 2.2 |
| 138 | Pulaski (Green Line – Lake Street) | 0.6 |
