West Cook News

Skokie ridership increased by 31 percent during February 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 Evanston Circulator route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 385.3 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 2021. CTA's president Dorval R. Cart Jr. said weekday ridership has doubled since the initial shutdown.

Rank	Route	Ridership increase from 2021 to 2022 (%)
1	Evanston Circulator	385.3
2	Stockton/LaSalle Express	227.5
3	U. of Chicago/Hyde Park	213.1
4	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	189
5	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	182.7
6	Navy Pier	182
7	Narragansett/Ridgeland	155.4
8	Union/Streeterville Express	146.8
9	Bronzeville/Union Station	144.6
10	Streeterville/Taylor	137.9
11	LaSalle	124.7
12	Harrison	122.7
13	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	121.6
14	Water Tower Express	120.8
15	U. of Chicago Hospitals Express	115.8
16	Hyde Park Express	113.5
17	Stockton/Michigan Express	111.5
18	Clarendon/Michigan Express	110.7
19	Addison	100.4
20	Central/Ridge	99.3
21	West 65th	92.6
22	Western Express	89.4
23	Northwest Highway	88.2
24	Sedgwick	87.4
25	South Damen	86.8
26	Blue Island/26th	81.9
27	Damen	81.1
28	Montrose	77.5
29	Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Expr	73.6
30	California/Dodge	71.1
31	West 63rd	70.1
32	31st	69.4
33	Pershing	67.9
34	Outer DuSable Lake Shore Expr	67.8
35	South Pulaski	66.4
36	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	63.7
37	Peterson	63.4
37	Vincennes/111th	63.4
39	55th/Austin	61.8
40	Sheridan	58.8
41	Archer	58.1
42	Archer/Harlem	56.5
43	Laramie	56.4
44	Kimball-Homan	56.2
45	Wentworth	55.5
46	Broadway	55.1
47	Foster	54.7
48	Wallace-Racine	54.5
49	North Western	52.9
50	Clark	52.1
51	Belmont	52
51	55th/Narragansett	52
53	Jackson	51.1
54	California	50.3
55	Diversey	49.9
56	Fullerton	48.9
57	Lincoln	48.7
58	Central	47.5
59	Milwaukee	46.9
60	Halsted	46.7
61	Ashland Express	46.5
62	Grand	46.3
63	31st/35th	46.2
64	Higgins	44.3
65	Jackson Park Express	44.2
66	51st	44
66	59th/61st	44
66	Jeffery Manor Express	44
66	Devon	44
66	Irving Park	44
71	Armitage	43.2
72	South Shore Express	42.6
73	Austin	42.1
74	Chicago	41.3
75	Halsted/95th	40.1
76	King Drive	39.5
76	Lawrence	39.5
78	West 103rd	39.2
79	Jeffery Jump	35.9
79	State	35.9
79	Harlem	35.9
79	Pullman/115th	35.9
83	Kedzie	35.3
84	Cermak	32.4
85	Division	31.6
86	Skokie	31
86	Madison	31
88	16th/18th	30
88	Western	30
88	South Kedzie	30
88	North	30
88	East 103rd	30
93	Lunt	29.3
94	South Halsted	29.1
95	South Chicago	28.2
96	111th/King Drive	28
96	Garfield	28
98	43rd	27.2
99	West Lawrence	26.9
100	Pulaski	26.4
101	74th-75th	26.3
102	47th	25.6
103	Jeffery Local	25.5
104	Roosevelt	25.3
105	North Central	24.1
106	63rd	22.8
107	87th	21.9
108	Ashland	18.5
109	67th-69th-71st	18.1
110	Michigan/119th	16.8
111	79th	15.5
112	71st/South Shore	14.4
113	Pullman Shuttle	13.5
114	95th	13.4
115	Cicero	12.7
116	Cottage Grove	12.2
117	South Michigan	11.6
118	South Cicero	9.7
119	Stony Island	8.9
120	South Shore Night Bus	3.5
121	69th-UPS Express	3.1