The CTA calculates ridership by counting the customers who board a transit vehicle (bus or rail).
The Navy Pier route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 390.7 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 | Navy Pier | 390.7 |
2 | Stockton/LaSalle Express | 378.6 |
3 | U. of Chicago/Hyde Park | 214.9 |
4 | Water Tower Express | 160.5 |
5 | U. of Chicago/Kenwood | 158.8 |
6 | LaSalle | 157.7 |
7 | Clarendon/LaSalle Express | 149.5 |
7 | Inner Drive/Michigan Express | 149.5 |
9 | 55th/Austin | 142.9 |
10 | Sheridan | 138.6 |
11 | Clarendon/Michigan Express | 134.1 |
12 | Hyde Park Express | 126.1 |
13 | U. of Chicago Hospitals Express | 124.1 |
14 | Stockton/Michigan Express | 118.9 |
15 | Streeterville/Taylor | 117.4 |
16 | Union/Streeterville Express | 117.3 |
17 | Ogilvie/Streeterville Express | 109.5 |
18 | Damen | 107.2 |
19 | Addison | 104.9 |
20 | Sheridan/LaSalle Express | 103.6 |
21 | Outer Drive Express | 100.1 |
22 | Sedgwick | 99.4 |
23 | Lunt | 98.6 |
24 | Clark | 95.6 |
25 | Broadway | 91.4 |
26 | Bronzeville/Union Station | 88.8 |
27 | Diversey | 80.2 |
28 | 31st | 79.3 |
29 | South Damen | 78.6 |
30 | Blue Island/26th | 74.9 |
31 | Belmont | 73.3 |
32 | Fullerton | 72.5 |
33 | North Western | 69.4 |
33 | North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. | 69.4 |
35 | 31st/35th | 68.4 |
36 | Irving Park | 62.4 |
37 | Narragansett/Ridgeland | 62.3 |
38 | Jackson Park Express | 59.6 |
39 | Higgins | 58.8 |
40 | Peterson | 58.6 |
41 | Lincoln | 58.4 |
42 | Evanston Circulator | 57.8 |
43 | West Lawrence | 57.6 |
44 | Grand | 57.4 |
45 | Archer | 56.9 |
46 | Montrose | 55.9 |
47 | Pershing | 54 |
48 | Cermak | 53.3 |
49 | South Pulaski | 50.6 |
50 | California | 49.3 |
51 | Avon Express | 48.1 |
52 | Harlem | 47.9 |
53 | Foster | 47.8 |
54 | West 65th | 47.6 |
55 | California/Dodge | 46 |
55 | 16th/18th | 46 |
57 | Lawrence | 45 |
58 | North | 41.7 |
59 | South Shore Express | 41.1 |
59 | Northwest Highway | 41.1 |
61 | Milwaukee | 39.8 |
62 | Devon | 39.6 |
63 | Chicago | 38.9 |
64 | Armitage | 37.5 |
65 | Skokie | 36 |
65 | Archer/Harlem | 36 |
67 | Wentworth | 35.2 |
68 | Ashland Express | 34.6 |
69 | Kimball-Homan | 33.6 |
70 | South Kedzie | 32.9 |
71 | Western Express | 31.9 |
72 | Garfield | 31.4 |
73 | King Drive | 31.2 |
74 | Halsted | 30.8 |
75 | Jeffery Jump | 29.9 |
76 | Division | 28.5 |
77 | South Shore Night Bus | 27.5 |
78 | Jeffery Manor Express | 26.7 |
79 | Western | 26.4 |
80 | West 63rd | 25.1 |
81 | Ashland | 23.9 |
82 | Central | 23.1 |
83 | Roosevelt | 22.8 |
84 | 55th/Narragansett | 21.7 |
85 | North Central | 21.5 |
86 | State | 21.3 |
87 | Austin | 20.3 |
88 | Halsted/95th | 18.4 |
89 | South Cicero | 16.3 |
90 | 47th | 15.9 |
91 | Stony Island | 15 |
91 | Cicero | 15 |
91 | Pulaski | 15 |
94 | 59th/61st | 10.7 |
95 | Harrison | 10.6 |
96 | Cottage Grove | 9.9 |
96 | 74th-75th | 9.9 |
98 | 51st | 9.8 |
99 | Pullman Shuttle | 7.7 |
100 | Jackson | 7.2 |
101 | Kedzie | 6.5 |
102 | 87th | 6 |
103 | 71st/South Shore | 3.9 |
104 | South Chicago | 3.1 |
105 | West 103rd | 3 |
105 | Jeffery Local | 3 |
107 | Wallace-Racine | 1.8 |
108 | 63rd | 0.9 |
109 | East 103rd | 0.6 |