The CTA calculates ridership by counting the customers who board a transit vehicle (bus or rail).
UIC-Halsted station saw the largest increase in ridership with a 342.7 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 2021. CTA's president Dorval R. Cart Jr. said weekday ridership has doubled since the initial shutdown.
Train Stations with Largest Increases in Ridership
| Rank | Station | Ridership increase from 2020 to 2021 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UIC-Halsted | 342.7 |
| 2 | Fullerton | 268.9 |
| 3 | Racine | 249.8 |
| 4 | Harrison | 223.6 |
| 5 | Noyes | 209.2 |
| 6 | Addison (Red Line - North Side) | 205.4 |
| 7 | Foster | 205.1 |
| 8 | Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway) | 200.4 |
| 9 | Cermak | 199.9 |
| 10 | Merchandise Mart | 195 |
| 11 | Quincy/Wells | 191.3 |
| 12 | Armitage | 190.8 |
| 13 | Southport | 182 |
| 14 | LaSalle | 178.2 |
| 15 | Grand (Red Line - North Side) | 177.8 |
| 16 | Harold Washington Library | 175.7 |
| 17 | Morgan | 172 |
| 18 | Argyle | 165.1 |
| 19 | Sedgwick | 164.6 |
| 20 | Adams/Wabash | 164.3 |
| 21 | Cermak-Chinatown | 164 |
| 22 | Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway) | 157 |
| 23 | Rockwell | 152.4 |
| 24 | Damen (Brown Line) | 152.2 |
| 25 | Division | 152 |
| 26 | Addison (Brown Line) | 151.4 |
| 27 | Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 146.8 |
| 28 | Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway) | 143.7 |
| 29 | Clark/Division | 142.3 |
| 30 | Washington | 142.1 |
| 31 | California (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 141.6 |
| 32 | Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway) | 140.1 |
| 33 | Belmont (Red Line - North Side) | 139.7 |
| 34 | Diversey | 139 |
| 35 | Wellington | 138.4 |
| 36 | State/Lake | 135.6 |
| 37 | Western (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 134.2 |
| 38 | Irving Park (Brown Line) | 133.5 |
| 39 | Francisco | 133 |
| 40 | Loyola | 131.6 |
| 41 | O'Hare Airport | 130.4 |
| 42 | Sox-35th | 130.1 |
| 43 | Washington/Wells | 129.3 |
| 44 | Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 128.1 |
| 45 | Lake | 125 |
| 46 | Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 123.9 |
| 47 | 35-Bronzeville-IIT | 122.1 |
| 48 | Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 121.6 |
| 49 | Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street) | 121 |
| 49 | Clark/Lake | 121 |
| 49 | Paulina | 121 |
| 52 | Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 114.8 |
| 53 | LaSalle/Van Buren | 114 |
| 54 | Chicago (Red Line - North Side) | 112.7 |
| 55 | Montrose (Brown Line) | 111.6 |
| 56 | Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street) | 110.3 |
| 57 | Sheridan | 109.6 |
| 58 | Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 107.8 |
| 59 | Logan Square | 106.8 |
| 60 | Wilson | 105.3 |
| 61 | Granville | 102.1 |
| 62 | Halsted (Orange Line) | 101.7 |
| 63 | Midway Airport | 99.3 |
| 64 | Damen (Pink Line) | 98.8 |
| 64 | Washington/Wabash | 98.8 |
| 66 | Chicago (Brown Line) | 98.1 |
| 67 | Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 97 |
| 68 | North/Clybourn | 94.3 |
| 69 | Roosevelt | 91.4 |
| 70 | Ridgeland | 91.3 |
| 71 | Pulaski (Orange Line) | 90.3 |
| 72 | 18th | 88.9 |
| 73 | Kedzie (Brown Line) | 88 |
| 74 | 35th/Archer | 87.2 |
| 75 | Cumberland | 82.5 |
| 76 | Main | 81.4 |
| 76 | Oakton | 81.4 |
| 78 | Dempster | 81.3 |
| 79 | Thorndale | 80.8 |
| 80 | Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 79.9 |
| 81 | Davis | 75.7 |
| 82 | Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 74.9 |
| 83 | Kimball | 74.3 |
| 84 | Medical Center | 73.8 |
| 85 | Linden | 73.7 |
| 86 | Bryn Mawr | 72.8 |
| 87 | Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street) | 71.5 |
| 88 | Kedzie (Orange Line) | 68.2 |
| 89 | Western (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 66.6 |
| 90 | Dempster-Skokie | 64.6 |
| 90 | Western (Brown Line) | 64.6 |
| 92 | Polk | 63.2 |
| 93 | Rosemont | 60.4 |
| 94 | Central (Purple Line - Evanston) | 59.6 |
| 95 | Jarvis | 59 |
| 96 | Morse | 57.8 |
| 97 | Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 57.2 |
| 98 | South Boulevard | 52.6 |
| 99 | California (Pink Line) | 50.3 |
| 100 | Western (Orange Line) | 49 |
| 101 | Jefferson Park | 47.4 |
| 102 | 54th/Cermak | 46 |
| 103 | Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated) | 45.3 |
| 104 | Ashland (Orange Line) | 44.7 |
| 105 | Western (Pink Line) | 40.4 |
| 106 | East 63rd-Cottage Grove | 38.5 |
| 107 | Central Park | 36 |
| 107 | Austin (Green Line - Lake Street) | 36 |
| 109 | Kedzie (Pink Line) | 35.3 |
| 110 | Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street) | 35.1 |
| 111 | Indiana | 33.5 |
| 112 | Howard | 32.3 |
| 113 | Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan) | 32 |
| 113 | Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 32 |
| 115 | Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street) | 31 |
| 116 | 51st | 28.3 |
| 117 | 47th (Green Line - South Elevated) | 27 |
| 118 | Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch) | 25.7 |
| 119 | 47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan) | 25 |
| 120 | 43rd | 24.4 |
| 121 | Kostner | 24.3 |
| 122 | California (Green Line - Lake Street) | 21.7 |
| 123 | Cicero (Pink Line) | 19.2 |
| 124 | Ashland/63rd | 16.1 |
| 125 | Forest Park | 16 |
| 125 | Pulaski (Pink Line) | 16 |
| 125 | Central (Green Line - Lake Street) | 16 |
| 125 | 69th | 16 |
| 129 | Laramie | 15 |
| 130 | Conservatory | 14.4 |
| 131 | King Drive | 14 |
| 132 | 87th | 12 |
| 133 | 63rd | 11.3 |
| 134 | Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street) | 11 |
| 135 | 79th | 8.1 |
| 136 | Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 5.9 |
| 137 | 95/Dan Ryan | 5.8 |
| 137 | Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street) | 5.8 |
| 139 | Harlem (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 5.5 |
| 140 | Kildare | 0.8 |
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