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 353 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 2021 to 2022 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UIC-Halsted | 353 |
| 2 | Fullerton | 218.2 |
| 3 | Racine | 217.1 |
| 4 | Harrison | 191 |
| 5 | Quincy/Wells | 172.7 |
| 6 | Adams/Wabash | 172.4 |
| 7 | Harold Washington Library | 168.9 |
| 8 | Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 167.8 |
| 9 | LaSalle | 167.3 |
| 10 | Merchandise Mart | 163.6 |
| 11 | Southport | 161.5 |
| 12 | Armitage | 160.8 |
| 13 | Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway) | 157.2 |
| 14 | Foster | 153.1 |
| 15 | Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway) | 148.3 |
| 16 | Sedgwick | 140.4 |
| 17 | Morgan | 138.4 |
| 18 | Washington | 135.8 |
| 19 | Addison (Brown Line) | 134.8 |
| 20 | Washington/Wells | 132.2 |
| 21 | Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway) | 130.1 |
| 22 | Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 127.9 |
| 23 | Addison (Red Line - North Side) | 127.6 |
| 24 | Argyle | 125.5 |
| 25 | Clark/Lake | 125.3 |
| 26 | Damen (Brown Line) | 124.8 |
| 27 | California (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 124.6 |
| 28 | Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway) | 120.5 |
| 29 | Belmont (Red Line - North Side) | 120.1 |
| 30 | Western (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 118.9 |
| 31 | Cermak-Chinatown | 116.3 |
| 32 | Noyes | 115.6 |
| 33 | Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 115.1 |
| 34 | State/Lake | 114.2 |
| 35 | Irving Park (Brown Line) | 114 |
| 35 | Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 114 |
| 37 | Division | 112.1 |
| 38 | Halsted (Orange Line) | 111 |
| 38 | Diversey | 111 |
| 40 | Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 110.4 |
| 41 | Grand (Red Line - North Side) | 109.6 |
| 42 | LaSalle/Van Buren | 107.1 |
| 43 | Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 106.1 |
| 44 | Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street) | 104.9 |
| 45 | 35-Bronzeville-IIT | 104.6 |
| 46 | Logan Square | 103.7 |
| 47 | Rockwell | 103.2 |
| 48 | Loyola | 100.1 |
| 49 | Cermak | 99.7 |
| 50 | Lake | 99.1 |
| 51 | Pulaski (Orange Line) | 98 |
| 51 | Washington/Wabash | 98 |
| 51 | Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 98 |
| 54 | Wilson | 95.8 |
| 55 | Oakton | 95.1 |
| 56 | Clark/Division | 95 |
| 57 | Sheridan | 93.4 |
| 58 | 35th/Archer | 92.8 |
| 59 | Wellington | 91.9 |
| 60 | Chicago (Brown Line) | 91.3 |
| 61 | Paulina | 89.8 |
| 62 | Midway Airport | 89.2 |
| 63 | Montrose (Brown Line) | 88.5 |
| 64 | Ridgeland | 84.6 |
| 65 | Francisco | 84.4 |
| 66 | Chicago (Red Line - North Side) | 82.6 |
| 67 | Dempster-Skokie | 81.2 |
| 68 | O'Hare Airport | 80.4 |
| 69 | Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 80.1 |
| 70 | Granville | 80 |
| 71 | Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street) | 77.6 |
| 72 | Damen (Pink Line) | 77 |
| 73 | Dempster | 76.2 |
| 74 | Western (Brown Line) | 75.6 |
| 75 | Medical Center | 75 |
| 75 | Sox-35th | 75 |
| 77 | Davis | 73.4 |
| 78 | North/Clybourn | 72.7 |
| 79 | Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street) | 72.1 |
| 80 | Western (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 71.6 |
| 81 | Main | 71.5 |
| 82 | Kedzie (Orange Line) | 71.1 |
| 83 | Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 70.1 |
| 84 | Cumberland | 68.2 |
| 85 | Western (Orange Line) | 66.1 |
| 86 | Roosevelt | 64.8 |
| 87 | Linden | 64.6 |
| 88 | South Boulevard | 64.3 |
| 89 | Thorndale | 63.6 |
| 90 | Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street) | 62.4 |
| 91 | Bryn Mawr | 60.1 |
| 92 | 18th | 59.4 |
| 93 | Kimball | 57.6 |
| 94 | Rosemont | 56.7 |
| 95 | Kedzie (Brown Line) | 56.6 |
| 96 | Jarvis | 56.1 |
| 97 | Morse | 55.9 |
| 98 | Jefferson Park | 53.2 |
| 99 | Ashland (Orange Line) | 50.1 |
| 100 | Polk | 46.5 |
| 100 | 54th/Cermak | 46.5 |
| 102 | Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated) | 43.3 |
| 103 | Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 42.5 |
| 104 | Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 40.2 |
| 105 | 51st | 39.5 |
| 106 | Austin (Green Line - Lake Street) | 37.7 |
| 107 | Indiana | 37.4 |
| 107 | 43rd | 37.4 |
| 109 | California (Pink Line) | 37.3 |
| 110 | Western (Pink Line) | 36.8 |
| 111 | Central Park | 36.1 |
| 112 | Kedzie (Pink Line) | 36 |
| 112 | Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan) | 36 |
| 114 | Pulaski (Pink Line) | 33.8 |
| 115 | California (Green Line - Lake Street) | 32.4 |
| 116 | 47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan) | 30.6 |
| 117 | Central (Purple Line - Evanston) | 27.5 |
| 118 | Howard | 27.2 |
| 119 | Laramie | 25.5 |
| 120 | Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street) | 25.4 |
| 121 | 63rd | 24.3 |
| 122 | Cicero (Pink Line) | 23.4 |
| 123 | 47th (Green Line - South Elevated) | 23.3 |
| 124 | Central (Green Line - Lake Street) | 22.7 |
| 125 | 87th | 21.5 |
| 126 | 69th | 21.3 |
| 127 | Forest Park | 20.6 |
| 128 | Kostner | 19.3 |
| 128 | Ashland/63rd | 19.3 |
| 130 | Pulaski (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 17.5 |
| 131 | East 63rd-Cottage Grove | 17.3 |
| 132 | Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street) | 17 |
| 133 | Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch) | 14.7 |
| 134 | 79th | 14.4 |
| 134 | Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 14.4 |
| 136 | 95/Dan Ryan | 14.1 |
| 137 | Kedzie-Homan | 13.2 |
| 138 | Harlem (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 10.8 |
| 139 | Conservatory | 9.5 |
| 140 | Kildare | 9.2 |
| 141 | King Drive | 7.2 |
| 142 | Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street) | 4.3 |
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