South Cook News

North Central ridership increased by 29.2% in January of this year 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 Stockton/LaSalle Express route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 222.7% 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.

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	Route	Ridership increase from 2022 to 2023 (%)
1	Stockton/LaSalle Express	222.7
2	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	168.9
3	United Center Express	165.5
4	Sedgwick	136.2
5	31st	131.3
6	LaSalle	127.6
7	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	126.2
8	Water Tower Express	114.7
9	Bronzeville/Union Station	107.2
10	Union/Streeterville Express	105.5
11	Streeterville/Taylor	98.6
12	Wentworth	84.9
13	Harrison	84.5
14	Navy Pier	79.9
15	Halsted	77
16	Hyde Park Express	76.3
17	Lunt	69.1
18	Central/Ridge	69
19	Stockton/Michigan Express	67
20	West Lawrence	65.9
21	Grand	63.7
22	Armitage	62.8
22	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	62.8
24	U. of Chicago/Kenwood	59.9
25	South Cicero	58.1
26	South Kedzie	57.7
27	Clarendon/Michigan Express	57.4
28	Western Express	55.1
29	55th/Narragansett	54.9
30	Division	54.8
31	Narragansett/Ridgeland	54.4
32	Blue Island/26th	54.2
33	Madison	53.9
34	King Drive	51.8
35	55th/Austin	51.1
36	U. of Chicago/Hyde Park	50.8
37	16th/18th	50.5
38	Archer/Harlem	49.2
39	59th/61st	47.6
40	South Chicago	46.2
41	South Pulaski	45.6
41	Soldier Field Express	45.6
43	California/Dodge	45.5
44	Chicago	45.4
45	Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Expr	44.8
46	South Damen	44.7
47	Lincoln	44.6
48	State	44.3
49	Sheridan	43.7
50	Cermak	43.5
51	South Shore Express	43.2
52	Jeffery Manor Express	43.1
53	Stony Island	42.9
53	West 103rd	42.9
55	Northwest Highway	42.6
56	Pulaski	42.5
57	31st/35th	42.4
58	Laramie	42.2
59	Wallace-Racine	42.1
60	Pullman Shuttle	41.7
61	Western	41.4
62	West 65th	41.1
63	Higgins	41
63	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	41
65	Jackson	40.2
66	Cicero	40
66	Fullerton	40
66	Halsted/95th	40
69	51st	39.1
70	Garfield	38.8
71	Ashland	38.4
72	Skokie	38.2
73	95th	38.1
74	43rd	37.6
75	Kedzie	37.5
76	North Western	37.4
76	North	37.4
76	Devon	37.4
79	Ashland Express	36.6
80	West 63rd	35.9
81	Foster	35.5
82	Central	35.4
83	South Halsted	34.6
84	East 103rd	34.4
85	California	33.5
86	Pullman/115th	33.2
87	U. of Chicago Hospitals Express	32.5
88	Damen	32.4
89	Outer DuSable Lake Shore Expr	32.1
90	Austin	32
90	Archer	32
92	Cottage Grove	31.2
93	Jackson Park Express	31.1
94	111th/King Drive	30.8
95	Diversey	30
95	74th-75th	30
95	Peterson	30
95	Clark	30
99	North Central	29.2
100	South Michigan	29
100	Pershing	29
102	Milwaukee	28.4
103	Michigan/119th	28.3
104	Montrose	28
104	71st/South Shore	28
104	Broadway	28
104	63rd	28
108	Jeffery Local	27.2
109	Jeffery Jump	27
109	Harlem	27
109	67th-69th-71st	27
109	Roosevelt	27
113	87th	26.3
114	79th	24.8
115	47th	24.7
116	Belmont	24.5
117	Irving Park	22.7
118	Addison	21.7
119	Vincennes/111th	17.9
120	Evanston Circulator	14.9
121	Kimball-Homan	14.6
122	Lawrence	14.4
123	South Shore Night Bus	4.7
124	69th-UPS Express	0.7