The CTA calculates ridership by counting the customers who board a transit vehicle (bus or rail).
The Stockton/LaSalle Express route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 484.6 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 | Stockton/LaSalle Express | 484.6 |
2 | U. of Chicago/Hyde Park | 469 |
3 | Navy Pier | 413.9 |
4 | Clarendon/LaSalle Express | 301.1 |
5 | 55th/Austin | 273.1 |
6 | U. of Chicago Hospitals Express | 259.7 |
7 | Stockton/Michigan Express | 226 |
8 | Streeterville/Taylor | 208.5 |
9 | U. of Chicago/Kenwood | 207.2 |
10 | Inner Drive/Michigan Express | 204.1 |
11 | Clarendon/Michigan Express | 197.8 |
12 | Ogilvie/Streeterville Express | 187 |
13 | Bronzeville/Union Station | 174 |
14 | Addison | 164.5 |
15 | 31st | 162 |
16 | Damen | 153.5 |
17 | 55th/Narragansett | 138.9 |
18 | Lunt | 134.4 |
19 | Central/Ridge | 132.5 |
20 | North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. | 130.2 |
21 | Hyde Park Express | 127.9 |
22 | Narragansett/Ridgeland | 127 |
23 | Harlem | 124.2 |
24 | Sheridan/LaSalle Express | 123.4 |
25 | Lincoln | 122.6 |
26 | Higgins | 121.6 |
27 | Sheridan | 114.9 |
28 | Irving Park | 110.3 |
29 | Peterson | 109.1 |
30 | South Damen | 107.8 |
31 | Armitage | 106.2 |
32 | Diversey | 104.7 |
33 | Evanston Circulator | 103.9 |
34 | Outer Drive Express | 101.4 |
35 | West Lawrence | 97 |
36 | LaSalle | 96 |
37 | Grand | 94.3 |
38 | Belmont | 92.1 |
39 | Northwest Highway | 90.7 |
40 | Clark | 89.5 |
40 | South Pulaski | 89.5 |
42 | Blue Island/26th | 88.7 |
42 | California | 88.7 |
44 | Water Tower Express | 88.5 |
45 | Fullerton | 87.3 |
46 | Foster | 85.2 |
47 | Sedgwick | 82 |
48 | Archer/Harlem | 80.6 |
49 | California/Dodge | 76.8 |
50 | North Western | 70.2 |
51 | South Shore Express | 69 |
51 | Skokie | 69 |
53 | Lawrence | 67.6 |
54 | Archer | 67.5 |
55 | Montrose | 66.5 |
56 | North Central | 65.2 |
57 | 16th/18th | 63.6 |
58 | Broadway | 62.7 |
59 | Avon Express | 62.2 |
60 | 51st | 61.3 |
61 | 31st/35th | 56 |
62 | Jackson Park Express | 55.4 |
63 | West 65th | 50 |
64 | Devon | 48.4 |
65 | Milwaukee | 46.5 |
66 | Jeffery Manor Express | 46.1 |
67 | South Kedzie | 46 |
68 | Austin | 44.3 |
69 | West 63rd | 41.9 |
70 | Division | 36.4 |
71 | Kimball-Homan | 36.1 |
72 | Cermak | 35.6 |
73 | Halsted | 33.8 |
74 | Pershing | 32.7 |
75 | North | 32.4 |
76 | Jeffery Jump | 32.3 |
77 | Chicago | 31.7 |
78 | Garfield | 29.7 |
79 | King Drive | 26.7 |
80 | Ashland Express | 25.3 |
81 | Roosevelt | 22.9 |
82 | Harrison | 22 |
82 | 59th/61st | 22 |
82 | 43rd | 22 |
85 | 47th | 21.4 |
85 | Western | 21.4 |
87 | Western Express | 21 |
87 | West 103rd | 21 |
89 | Wentworth | 19.5 |
90 | Central | 18.3 |
91 | Vincennes/111th | 15.4 |
92 | South Cicero | 13.4 |
93 | Ashland | 12.4 |
94 | Halsted/95th | 10.2 |
95 | South Halsted | 8.5 |
96 | Stony Island | 6.9 |
97 | Cottage Grove | 6.4 |
98 | Pulaski | 4.2 |
99 | 95th | 3.4 |
100 | Jeffery Local | 2.6 |
101 | 87th | 1.7 |
102 | South Chicago | 1.3 |
103 | Wallace-Racine | 0.7 |