The CTA calculates ridership by counting the customers who board a transit vehicle (bus or rail).
Quincy/Wells station saw the largest increase in ridership with a 60.3% 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.
While ridership hasn't returned to pre-pandemic levels, CTA's president Dorval R. Cart Jr. said weekday ridership has doubled since the initial shutdown and continues to increase.
Rank | Station | Ridership increase from 2022 to 2023 (%) |
---|---|---|
1 | Quincy/Wells | 60.3 |
2 | Washington/Wells | 55.2 |
3 | LaSalle/Van Buren | 50.9 |
4 | Merchandise Mart | 49.8 |
5 | Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 44.3 |
6 | Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway) | 39.1 |
7 | Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street) | 36.6 |
8 | Paulina | 36.3 |
8 | Adams/Wabash | 36.3 |
10 | Morgan | 35.5 |
11 | Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway) | 33.3 |
12 | Halsted (Orange Line) | 33.2 |
13 | Ridgeland | 31.8 |
14 | Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 31.6 |
15 | Wellington | 31.2 |
16 | Montrose (Brown Line) | 31.1 |
17 | Irving Park (Brown Line) | 30.3 |
18 | Rockwell | 30.2 |
19 | State/Lake | 29.7 |
20 | Chicago (Brown Line) | 29.5 |
21 | Diversey | 28.5 |
22 | Western (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 28.3 |
23 | Linden | 28.2 |
24 | Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 27.6 |
25 | Sedgwick | 27 |
25 | Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street) | 27 |
25 | Francisco | 27 |
28 | Clark/Lake | 26.4 |
29 | Addison (Brown Line) | 25.8 |
30 | Harold Washington Library | 25.2 |
31 | Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street) | 25.1 |
32 | East 63rd-Cottage Grove | 24.9 |
33 | Western (Brown Line) | 24.8 |
34 | Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 24.6 |
35 | Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway) | 24.2 |
35 | Ashland (Orange Line) | 24.2 |
37 | Oakton | 23.7 |
38 | Washington/Wabash | 23.1 |
39 | 35th/Archer | 22.8 |
40 | Western (Orange Line) | 22.5 |
41 | Armitage | 22.4 |
41 | Midway Airport | 22.4 |
43 | Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street) | 21.9 |
44 | Cermak | 21.7 |
45 | Cumberland | 21.6 |
46 | Southport | 21.5 |
47 | Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch) | 21.1 |
48 | LaSalle | 21 |
48 | California (Green Line - Lake Street) | 21 |
48 | Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway) | 21 |
51 | Fullerton | 20.4 |
52 | Austin (Green Line - Lake Street) | 20.3 |
53 | Jefferson Park | 20.2 |
54 | Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 20.1 |
54 | Kimball | 20.1 |
54 | Kedzie (Brown Line) | 20.1 |
54 | Damen (Brown Line) | 20.1 |
54 | Kedzie (Orange Line) | 20.1 |
59 | Addison (Red Line - North Side) | 19.9 |
60 | Cermak-Chinatown | 19.7 |
61 | Howard | 19.4 |
62 | Kildare | 19.1 |
63 | Pulaski (Orange Line) | 18.8 |
64 | 95/Dan Ryan | 18.2 |
65 | Central (Purple Line - Evanston) | 18 |
65 | 47th (Green Line - South Elevated) | 18 |
65 | South Boulevard | 18 |
65 | Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 18 |
69 | Rosemont | 17.4 |
69 | Division | 17.4 |
71 | Dempster | 17.3 |
72 | Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 17.1 |
73 | Berwyn | 17 |
73 | California (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 17 |
73 | Jarvis | 17 |
73 | Washington | 17 |
73 | UIC-Halsted | 17 |
73 | Sheridan | 17 |
73 | Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street) | 17 |
73 | Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 17 |
81 | Thorndale | 16.4 |
82 | Laramie | 16.3 |
83 | Granville | 16.1 |
83 | King Drive | 16.1 |
85 | Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 16 |
85 | Conservatory | 16 |
85 | O'Hare Airport | 16 |
85 | Logan Square | 16 |
85 | 43rd | 16 |
90 | Roosevelt | 15.2 |
91 | Pulaski (Pink Line) | 15.1 |
92 | Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 14.9 |
93 | Bryn Mawr | 14.5 |
94 | Kedzie (Pink Line) | 14 |
94 | Lake | 14 |
94 | Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare) | 14 |
94 | Dempster-Skokie | 14 |
94 | Main | 14 |
99 | Kostner | 13.4 |
100 | Chicago (Red Line - North Side) | 13 |
100 | Cicero (Pink Line) | 13 |
100 | Loyola | 13 |
100 | Noyes | 13 |
104 | Morse | 12.3 |
104 | Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street) | 12.3 |
106 | North/Clybourn | 12 |
106 | Davis | 12 |
106 | Central (Green Line - Lake Street) | 12 |
106 | Forest Park | 12 |
106 | Western (Pink Line) | 12 |
106 | 54th/Cermak | 12 |
112 | Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 11.4 |
113 | Central Park | 11 |
113 | 18th | 11 |
113 | Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated) | 11 |
113 | California (Pink Line) | 11 |
117 | Medical Center | 10.2 |
118 | Grand (Red Line - North Side) | 9.9 |
119 | 87th | 9.7 |
120 | Belmont (Red Line - North Side) | 9.1 |
121 | Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street) | 8.9 |
122 | 51st | 8.6 |
123 | Clark/Division | 8.3 |
124 | Indiana | 7.7 |
125 | Polk | 7.6 |
126 | Ashland/63rd | 6.9 |
127 | Foster | 6.5 |
128 | 35-Bronzeville-IIT | 6 |
128 | Sox-35th | 6 |
130 | Kedzie-Homan | 5.2 |
131 | Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan) | 4.8 |
132 | Damen (Pink Line) | 4.5 |
133 | 47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan) | 3.4 |
134 | Harrison | 2.7 |
135 | Western (Blue Line - Forest Park) | 1.8 |
136 | Racine | 0.6 |
137 | 69th | 0.2 |