West Cook News

Central (Purple Line - Evanston) station ridership increased by 10.3 percent during June 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).

Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare) station saw the largest increase in ridership with a 104.7 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.

Rank	Station	Ridership increase from 2021 to 2022 (%)
1	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	104.7
2	Quincy/Wells	98.4
3	LaSalle/Van Buren	81.9
4	Adams/Wabash	79.9
5	Harold Washington Library	76.5
6	Merchandise Mart	74.5
7	Washington/Wells	74.2
8	Morgan	73.4
9	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	68.7
10	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	63
11	Diversey	59
12	Racine	58
12	Sedgwick	58
14	LaSalle	57.3
15	Fullerton	57.1
16	Cermak	56.3
17	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	56.2
18	Addison (Red Line - North Side)	56
18	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	56
18	Armitage	56
21	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	55.4
22	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	54.6
23	UIC-Halsted	54.2
23	Wellington	54.2
25	Addison (Brown Line)	53.9
26	Irving Park (Brown Line)	53.5
27	State/Lake	52.9
28	Southport	52
28	Clark/Lake	52
30	Washington	50.9
31	California (Pink Line)	50.8
32	Rockwell	50.4
33	Harrison	50.2
34	Chicago (Brown Line)	50
35	Midway Airport	47.6
36	Sheridan	47.4
37	Foster	46.9
38	Lake	45.9
39	Washington/Wabash	45.8
40	Kedzie (Pink Line)	44.9
40	35th/Archer	44.9
42	Halsted (Orange Line)	44.5
43	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	44.4
44	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	43.9
45	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	43.4
46	Cermak-Chinatown	43.2
47	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	43.1
48	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	42.8
49	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	42.1
50	Division	40.9
51	Damen (Brown Line)	40.8
52	Rosemont	40.7
53	Noyes	40.5
53	Paulina	40.5
55	Pulaski (Orange Line)	40
56	Cumberland	38.7
56	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	38.7
58	Logan Square	38.6
58	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	38.6
60	Roosevelt	37.6
60	Dempster-Skokie	37.6
62	Argyle	37.2
63	Western (Brown Line)	37
63	Jarvis	37
65	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	35.9
66	Francisco	35.5
67	Kedzie (Orange Line)	34.3
68	O'Hare Airport	33.9
68	Ashland (Orange Line)	33.9
70	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	33.6
71	Western (Orange Line)	33.5
72	Oakton	33.4
73	Granville	33.1
73	Kedzie (Brown Line)	33.1
75	Bryn Mawr	33
75	54th/Cermak	33
75	Dempster	33
75	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	33
75	18th	33
80	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	32.3
81	Loyola	32.1
82	Grand (Red Line - North Side)	31.9
83	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	31.5
84	Kimball	31.4
85	Medical Center	31.2
85	Montrose (Brown Line)	31.2
87	Ridgeland	30.5
88	Damen (Pink Line)	30.2
89	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	30.1
90	Thorndale	29.9
91	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	29.6
92	North/Clybourn	29.4
92	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	29.4
94	South Boulevard	28.9
95	35-Bronzeville-IIT	28.4
96	Wilson	28.3
97	43rd	27.9
98	Jefferson Park	27.8
99	Clark/Division	27.6
100	Central Park	26.1
101	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	25.7
102	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	25.4
103	Western (Pink Line)	25
104	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	23.3
105	95/Dan Ryan	22.8
105	Polk	22.8
107	Linden	22.2
108	Kedzie-Homan	22.1
109	Morse	21.5
110	51st	21.1
111	Howard	20.8
112	Sox-35th	20
112	Main	20
114	Pulaski (Pink Line)	19.3
115	Kostner	18.8
116	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	18.4
117	Cicero (Pink Line)	17.8
118	Laramie	17.7
119	Davis	17.5
120	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	17.2
121	69th	16.7
122	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	16.5
123	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	16.1
124	Indiana	15.9
125	47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	15.4
126	Kildare	15.2
127	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	15
127	63rd	15
129	87th	12.7
130	79th	12.4
131	Forest Park	11.3
132	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	11
132	Ashland/63rd	11
134	Central (Purple Line - Evanston)	10.3
135	Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch)	9.3
136	Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare)	7.7
137	King Drive	6.6
138	Pulaski (Blue Line - Forest Park)	6.3
138	Conservatory	6.3
140	Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street)	1.7