Chicago City Wire

South Boulevard station ridership decreased by 74.4 percent during August 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 station that saw the largest decrease in ridership was Merchandise Mart station with 90.8 percent drop.

Train transit experienced a 78 percent decline in ridership overall during the month. Bus ridership across the city during the same month saw a decrease of 57.2 percent year over year. The bus route that saw the largest decrease was the Stockton/LaSalle Express with a decrease of 96 percent.

So far, the CTA has made no service cuts even with the decrease in ridership. The Metra, which provides service to many of Chicago’s suburbs has seen a 97 percent 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.

Rank	Station	Ridership decline year over year (%)
1	Merchandise Mart	90.8
2	Quincy/Wells	90.5
3	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	90.2
4	Addison (Red Line - North Side)	89.2
4	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	89.2
6	Clark/Lake	86.9
7	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	86.8
8	Southport	86.6
8	Washington/Wells	86.6
10	Grand (Red Line - North Side)	86.5
11	LaSalle/Van Buren	86
11	Washington	86
11	Harrison	86
11	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	86
15	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	85.4
16	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85.1
16	Addison (Brown Line)	85.1
18	Rockwell	84.9
19	Lake	84.8
20	UIC-Halsted	84.6
20	Irving Park (Brown Line)	84.6
20	Adams/Wabash	84.6
23	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	84.5
23	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	84.5
25	LaSalle	84.3
26	Sedgwick	83.9
27	Thorndale	83.8
27	Bryn Mawr	83.8
27	Armitage	83.8
30	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	83.7
31	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	83.6
31	Damen (Brown Line)	83.6
33	Linden	83.5
34	Noyes	83.4
35	Wellington	83.2
36	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	83.1
36	Diversey	83.1
38	Granville	82.9
39	Montrose (Brown Line)	82.8
39	Paulina	82.8
41	Ridgeland	82.7
42	Fullerton	82.6
43	Division	82.5
43	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	82.5
45	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	82.3
46	Foster	82
46	State/Lake	82
46	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	82
46	Logan Square	82
50	Racine	81
50	Sox-35th	81
50	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	81
50	Cumberland	81
50	Chicago (Brown Line)	81
55	Sheridan	80.4
56	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	80.3
57	Cermak-Chinatown	80.2
58	Francisco	80.1
59	Harold Washington Library	79.8
60	Morgan	79.7
61	Clark/Division	79.3
62	North/Clybourn	79.1
62	Dempster-Skokie	79.1
64	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	79
64	Cermak	79
66	Washington/Wabash	78
67	O'Hare Airport	77
67	Western (Brown Line)	77
67	Oakton	77
70	Midway Airport	76.2
71	Main	75.9
72	Lawrence	75.8
73	Davis	75.6
73	35-Bronzeville-IIT	75.6
75	Dempster	75.5
76	Roosevelt	74.7
77	South Boulevard	74.4
78	Halsted (Orange Line)	74.2
79	Argyle	74.1
80	35th/Archer	73.5
81	Loyola	73.3
82	Rosemont	72.9
83	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	72
83	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	72
83	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	72
86	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	71.2
87	Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare)	71.1
88	Morse	70.4
89	Pulaski (Orange Line)	69.6
90	Central (Purple Line - Evanston)	69.4
91	Wilson	69.2
92	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	69
92	Kedzie (Brown Line)	69
92	Medical Center	69
92	Jarvis	69
96	18th	68.4
97	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	68.2
98	Kimball	67.8
99	Damen (Pink Line)	67.7
100	Polk	67.5
101	Forest Park	67.4
102	Berwyn	66.8
103	Western (Orange Line)	66.4
104	Indiana	66.3
105	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	66.1
105	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	66.1
107	43rd	65.9
108	Jefferson Park	65.7
109	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	65
109	East 63rd-Cottage Grove	65
111	Kedzie-Homan	64
111	87th	64
111	51st	64
111	Kedzie (Orange Line)	64
111	Howard	64
111	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	64
117	47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	63.1
118	54th/Cermak	62.2
119	63rd	62.1
120	Harlem (Blue Line - Forest Park)	61.8
121	69th	61.2
122	Ashland (Orange Line)	61.1
123	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	61
123	79th	61
125	California (Pink Line)	59.6
126	Kedzie (Pink Line)	59.3
127	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	59.2
128	Kildare	59.1
129	Central Park	58.8
130	95/Dan Ryan	58.6
131	Ashland/63rd	58.1
132	Kostner	57.7
133	Western (Pink Line)	57.5
134	Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch)	57.1
135	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	56.7
136	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	56.4
137	Laramie	55.6
138	King Drive	55.1
139	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	53.9
140	Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street)	52.7
141	Pulaski (Pink Line)	52.5
142	Conservatory	50.4
143	Cicero (Pink Line)	50.2
144	Pulaski (Blue Line - Forest Park)	44.3