Chicago City Wire

Harold Washington Library station ridership decreased by 77 percent during December 2020 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 a 90.5 percent drop.

Train transit experienced a 77 percent decline in ridership overall during the month. Bus ridership across the city during the same month saw a decrease of 59.9 percent year over year. The bus route that saw the largest decrease was the Stockton/LaSalle Express with a decrease of 95.7 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	90.5
2	Quincy/Wells	90.1
3	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	88.7
4	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	87.3
4	Clark/Lake	87.3
6	UIC-Halsted	86.5
7	Grand (Red Line - North Side)	86.3
7	Southport	86.3
7	Washington/Wells	86.3
10	Washington	85.7
10	Irving Park (Brown Line)	85.7
12	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85.5
13	Addison (Brown Line)	85.4
13	LaSalle/Van Buren	85.4
15	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	85.2
16	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85
16	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85
16	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	85
19	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	84.4
20	Lake	84.2
21	Rockwell	84
21	Harrison	84
21	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	84
21	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	84
21	Racine	84
26	Damen (Brown Line)	83.4
27	Armitage	83.3
28	LaSalle	83.1
29	Addison (Red Line - North Side)	82.7
30	Logan Square	82.5
31	Morgan	82.4
31	Paulina	82.4
33	Ridgeland	82.3
33	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	82.3
33	Montrose (Brown Line)	82.3
36	Fullerton	82.2
37	Adams/Wabash	82.1
38	Wellington	81.8
38	Diversey	81.8
40	Division	81.6
40	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	81.6
40	State/Lake	81.6
43	Francisco	81.4
44	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	81.3
45	Sedgwick	81.1
46	Cermak-Chinatown	80.6
47	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	80.5
48	Noyes	80.4
48	Cumberland	80.4
50	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	80.1
51	Chicago (Brown Line)	80
51	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	80
51	Linden	80
54	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	79.2
55	Foster	79.1
56	Sheridan	78.3
57	Main	77.6
58	Clark/Division	77.3
58	Western (Brown Line)	77.3
60	North/Clybourn	77
60	Harold Washington Library	77
60	Halsted (Orange Line)	77
63	Loyola	76.4
64	O'Hare Airport	76.3
65	Sox-35th	76.2
66	Granville	75.4
66	Davis	75.4
66	Midway Airport	75.4
69	Dempster-Skokie	75.1
70	35th/Archer	74.9
70	Washington/Wabash	74.9
72	South Boulevard	74.5
73	Lawrence	74.3
74	Thorndale	74.2
75	Cermak	74
75	Bryn Mawr	74
77	Oakton	73.2
77	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	73.2
77	Pulaski (Orange Line)	73.2
80	Berwyn	73
80	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	73
80	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	73
80	Dempster	73
80	Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare)	73
85	Roosevelt	72.4
86	Argyle	72.2
86	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	72.2
88	Morse	72
88	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	72
88	Rosemont	72
88	Kedzie (Brown Line)	72
92	Medical Center	70.6
93	Kimball	70.2
94	Jarvis	69.8
95	Jefferson Park	68.6
96	Wilson	68
96	18th	68
98	Western (Orange Line)	67.2
99	35-Bronzeville-IIT	67.1
100	Damen (Pink Line)	67
101	Kedzie (Orange Line)	66.3
102	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	65.9
103	Indiana	65.7
104	Polk	65.6
105	Forest Park	64.9
106	47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	64.5
107	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	64.1
108	51st	64
108	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	64
108	43rd	64
111	Central (Purple Line - Evanston)	63.4
111	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	63.4
113	63rd	63.3
114	East 63rd-Cottage Grove	63.1
115	Central Park	62.4
116	87th	62.1
117	Kildare	62
117	Ashland (Orange Line)	62
117	Howard	62
117	Kedzie-Homan	62
121	69th	60.7
122	79th	60.3
122	California (Pink Line)	60.3
124	Harlem (Blue Line - Forest Park)	59.8
125	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	59.5
126	95/Dan Ryan	59.4
127	54th/Cermak	59.1
128	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	58.7
129	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	58
130	Western (Pink Line)	57.3
131	Kedzie (Pink Line)	57.2
132	Laramie	56.8
133	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	56.5
133	Ashland/63rd	56.5
135	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	56.2
136	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	55.9
137	Kostner	54.4
138	Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch)	53.2
139	Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street)	53
139	Pulaski (Pink Line)	53
139	Cicero (Pink Line)	53
142	King Drive	52.4
143	Conservatory	43.9
144	Pulaski (Blue Line - Forest Park)	43.2