President of the CTA Dorval R. Carter, Jr. 2023 | Chicago Transit Authority
President of the CTA Dorval R. Carter, Jr. 2023 | Chicago Transit Authority
The CTA calculates ridership by counting the customers who board a transit vehicle (bus or rail).
The United Center Express route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 96.5% rise.
Rail and bus traffic took a serious hit during the first year of the pandemic with average weekday ridership falling 57.6% in 2020 from pre-pandemic ridership in 2019, according to the Active Transportation Alliance. Total boardings in 2021 continued to decline, falling an additional 3.4% from 2020, with just under 602 thousand passengers riding bus or rail each weekday on average.
The transit authority has survived the period of lower ridership by depending on COVID relief money from the federal government, including $1.43 billion in bailout funds from the CARES act in 2020, according to the Federal Transit Authority.
In 2022, the ridership increased 26.7% to over 762 thousand riders per weekday on average, but this was still barely more than half of the pre-pandemic average ridership of 1.47 million riders per weekday. In early 2023, ridership steadily continued to rise.
Rank | Route | Ridership increase from 2022 to 2023 (%) |
---|---|---|
1 | United Center Express | 96.5 |
2 | 31st | 75.2 |
3 | Clarendon/LaSalle Express | 58.8 |
4 | Stockton/LaSalle Express | 57.9 |
5 | Streeterville/Taylor | 54.4 |
6 | Sedgwick | 42.7 |
7 | LaSalle | 42.3 |
8 | Union/Streeterville Express | 41.9 |
9 | Bronzeville/Union Station | 40.8 |
10 | Hyde Park Express | 40.6 |
11 | Lunt | 40.2 |
12 | Grand | 40.1 |
13 | Wentworth | 39.7 |
14 | Sheridan/LaSalle Express | 34 |
14 | Armitage | 34 |
16 | Water Tower Express | 32.9 |
17 | Division | 31.8 |
18 | Harrison | 31.2 |
19 | South Cicero | 30.8 |
20 | Navy Pier | 30.1 |
21 | 55th/Narragansett | 29.5 |
22 | Halsted | 27.8 |
23 | Halsted/95th | 27.1 |
24 | Stockton/Michigan Express | 26.5 |
25 | West Lawrence | 26.4 |
26 | Chicago | 22 |
26 | Ogilvie/Streeterville Express | 22 |
26 | Stony Island | 22 |
26 | Western | 22 |
26 | Jackson | 22 |
31 | 55th/Austin | 21.3 |
32 | King Drive | 21.1 |
33 | 16th/18th | 20.7 |
34 | Evanston Circulator | 20.5 |
35 | South Kedzie | 19.9 |
36 | Archer/Harlem | 19.6 |
37 | Madison | 19 |
37 | Central/Ridge | 19 |
37 | Western Express | 19 |
40 | Cermak | 18.2 |
40 | Pulaski | 18.2 |
40 | North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. | 18.2 |
43 | Ashland | 16.9 |
44 | South Shore Express | 16.4 |
45 | South Pulaski | 16 |
45 | Skokie | 16 |
47 | Fullerton | 15.3 |
47 | Narragansett/Ridgeland | 15.3 |
49 | Ashland Express | 15.2 |
50 | Laramie | 15 |
50 | 59th/61st | 15 |
50 | Garfield | 15 |
50 | Wallace-Racine | 15 |
50 | California/Dodge | 15 |
55 | South Chicago | 14.3 |
55 | Central | 14.3 |
57 | Lincoln | 14.2 |
58 | South Halsted | 14 |
58 | South Michigan | 14 |
58 | North | 14 |
61 | Higgins | 13.4 |
62 | Kedzie | 13.1 |
62 | Cicero | 13.1 |
62 | Blue Island/26th | 13.1 |
65 | 63rd | 12.3 |
66 | 31st/35th | 12.2 |
67 | 43rd | 11.9 |
68 | Devon | 11.4 |
69 | 95th | 11.1 |
70 | North Western | 11 |
70 | U. of Chicago/Kenwood | 11 |
72 | Archer | 10.3 |
72 | 71st/South Shore | 10.3 |
72 | 74th-75th | 10.3 |
72 | West 103rd | 10.3 |
76 | Pershing | 9.7 |
76 | North Central | 9.7 |
78 | 47th | 9.6 |
78 | Sheridan | 9.6 |
80 | Jeffery Manor Express | 9.4 |
81 | East 103rd | 9 |
81 | California | 9 |
81 | Austin | 9 |
84 | State | 8.4 |
84 | 51st | 8.4 |
84 | 67th-69th-71st | 8.4 |
87 | Clarendon/Michigan Express | 8.3 |
88 | Milwaukee | 8 |
88 | South Damen | 8 |
90 | Michigan/119th | 7.3 |
91 | 111th/King Drive | 6.4 |
92 | Belmont | 5.5 |
93 | Northwest Highway | 5.4 |
94 | Jeffery Local | 5.3 |
94 | Pullman/115th | 5.3 |
96 | West 65th | 4.5 |
97 | Montrose | 4.1 |
97 | Foster | 4.1 |
99 | 79th | 4 |
99 | Cottage Grove | 4 |
99 | Pullman Shuttle | 4 |
102 | Harlem | 3.4 |
103 | Damen | 3.2 |
104 | Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Expr | 3.1 |
105 | Addison | 2.7 |
106 | West 63rd | 1.9 |
106 | 87th | 1.9 |
108 | Jeffery Jump | 1.8 |
109 | Roosevelt | 1.2 |
109 | Irving Park | 1.2 |
111 | Diversey | 0.9 |