Chicago City Wire

Ashland Express ridership decreased by 57.6 percent during July 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 route that saw the largest decrease in ridership was Stockton/LaSalle Express with 95.3 percent drop.

Bus transit experienced a 57.1 percent decline in ridership overall during the month. Train ridership across the city during the same month saw a decrease of 77.9 percent year over year. The train station that saw the largest decrease was the Merchandise Mart station with a decrease of 90.6 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	Route	Ridership decline year over year (%)
1	Stockton/LaSalle Express	95.3
2	Union/Streeterville Express	94.7
3	U. of Chicago/Hyde Park	94.2
4	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	94.1
5	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	93.2
6	W ater Tower Express	91.1
7	LaSalle	89.7
8	Bronzeville/Union Station	89.6
9	U. of Chicago/Kenwood	89
10	Stockton/Michigan Express	87.8
11	Sedgwick	87.4
12	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	87.1
13	Navy Pier	86.7
14	U. of Chicago Hospitals Express	85.2
15	Hyde Park Express	85.1
16	Clarendon/Michigan Express	81.4
17	Streeterville/T aylor	79.9
18	55th/Austin	75.8
19	Grand	69.7
20	W entworth	69.2
21	Inner Drive/Michigan Express	69
21	Sheridan	69
23	Harrison	67.2
24	Addison	65.9
24	Central/Ridge	65.9
26	Montrose	65.6
27	55th/Narragansett	64.8
28	Damen	64.7
29	Armitage	63.7
30	Narragansett/Ridgeland	63.2
31	Halsted	62.7
32	Kedzie	62.3
32	Archer	62.3
34	W est 65th	61.8
35	31st/35th	61.7
36	State	61.6
36	South Dam en	61.6
36	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	61.6
36	Chicago	61.6
40	Blue Island/26th	61.5
41	North	61
41	16th/18th	61
41	Clark	61
41	Lunt	61
41	Evanston Circulator	61
41	Jackson Park Express	61
41	Diversey	61
41	Belmont	61
49	Halsted/95th	60.3
50	South Shore Express	60
51	Peterson	59.4
52	Jackson	59.3
52	Outer Drive Express	59.3
54	Fullerton	59.1
55	Garfield	58.3
56	Pershing	58.1
56	Division	58.1
58	King Drive	57.8
58	Lincoln	57.8
60	Ashland Express	57.6
60	Milwaukee	57.6
62	W estern Express	57.5
63	Jeffery Jump	57.4
64	South Pulaski	57.1
65	North Central	56.9
66	Madison	56.1
67	59th/61st	55.9
67	East 103rd	55.9
69	Stony Island	55.8
70	Irving Park	55.6
71	Vincennes/111th	55.4
72	California/Dodge	55.3
73	Broadway	54.4
74	Skokie	54
74	31st	54
74	Archer/Harlem	54
77	North W estern	53.3
77	W est 103rd	53.3
79	South Michigan	53.2
80	South Kedzie	52.8
80	Kimball-Homan	52.8
82	South Chicago	52.6
82	W allace-Racine	52.6
84	W estern	52.5
85	Cermak	52.4
85	87th	52.4
87	W est Lawrence	52
87	Pulaski	52
87	Higgins	52
87	South Shore Night Bus	52
91	Foster	51.3
92	Jeffery Manor Express	51
92	Cottage Grove	51
92	Roosevelt	51
92	Austin	51
92	63rd	51
92	W est 63rd	51
98	51st	50.4
99	Laramie	49.4
100	Lawrence	49.3
101	Pullman/115th	49.2
102	Harlem	48.7
103	43rd	48.6
103	79th	48.6
105	74th-75th	48.3
106	Devon	47.9
107	Cicero	47.8
108	67th-69th-71st	47.1
109	71st/South Shore	46.9
110	Jeffery Local	46.6
111	South Halsted	46.5
112	Ashland	46.1
113	47th	45.7
114	95th	44.9
115	Central	44.7
116	South Cicero	44
116	Michigan/119th	44
118	111th/King Drive	43.4
119	Northwest Highway	42.3
120	California	38.1
121	Pullman Shuttle	5.1