Chicago City Wire

Cicero ridership increased by 14 percent during September 2021 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 U. of Chicago/Kenwood route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 347.6 percent 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.

However, the CTA claimed ridership had rebounded 56 percent in the first six months of 2021. CTA's president Dorval R. Cart Jr. said weekday ridership has doubled since the initial shutdown.

Rank	Route	Ridership increase from 2020 to 2021 (%)
1	U. of Chicago/Kenwood	347.6
2	Evanston Circulator	342.5
3	Navy Pier	324.1
4	Stockton/LaSalle Express	239.3
5	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	208.7
6	Water Tower Express	208.4
7	West 65th	176.1
8	Streeterville/Taylor	175.9
9	Union/Streeterville Express	158.6
10	Bronzeville/Union Station	143.8
11	Narragansett/Ridgeland	141.8
12	LaSalle	141.1
13	Hyde Park Express	138.3
14	Sedgwick	136.6
15	Stockton/Michigan Express	132.7
16	Addison	128.4
17	U. of Chicago Hospitals Express	126.1
18	U. of Chicago/Hyde Park	122.6
19	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	98.2
20	Harrison	97.1
20	South Damen	97.1
22	Damen	96.1
23	Clarendon/Michigan Express	91.8
24	Blue Island/26th	90.2
25	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	87.2
26	55th/Austin	79.2
27	Inner Drive/Michigan Express	77.9
28	31st	75.3
29	Western Express	71.8
30	Central/Ridge	71.6
31	Grand	70.3
32	Northwest Highway	70.1
33	Sheridan	69.3
34	Ashland Express	67.9
35	Peterson	67.1
36	South Pulaski	66.9
37	Wentworth	65.8
38	East 103rd	65.5
39	Montrose	65.4
40	Kimball-Homan	64.2
41	Chicago	63.3
42	Armitage	63.2
43	Archer/Harlem	63.1
44	Archer	62.2
45	Halsted	61.5
46	California/Dodge	59.7
47	55th/Narragansett	59.4
48	Fullerton	56.5
49	Outer Drive Express	56.4
50	31st/35th	56.2
50	Higgins	56.2
52	Foster	56.1
53	Jackson	55.9
54	Irving Park	52.7
55	Clark	51.1
56	Belmont	50.6
57	Lunt	49.5
58	16th/18th	49
58	Broadway	49
60	Diversey	47.8
61	Milwaukee	45.2
62	West 63rd	44.7
63	California	43.6
64	51st	43.4
65	Jackson Park Express	42.7
66	North	42.6
67	Vincennes/111th	42.3
68	Division	40.7
69	Lincoln	39.8
70	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	39.2
71	Pershing	39
72	King Drive	36.4
73	North Western	35.3
74	Jeffery Manor Express	35.2
75	Central	35
75	Kedzie	35
77	Devon	33.8
78	State	33.1
79	Harlem	33
79	South Shore Express	33
81	South Kedzie	32.3
82	Garfield	32.2
82	Austin	32.2
84	Cermak	31.5
85	Lawrence	31.1
86	Wallace-Racine	31
87	Skokie	29.7
88	Pullman/115th	29.4
89	Roosevelt	29
89	South Chicago	29
89	Laramie	29
92	47th	28.4
93	North Central	28.1
94	Pulaski	27.2
95	Jeffery Local	26.9
96	Western	26.6
96	59th/61st	26.6
98	West Lawrence	26.1
99	Ashland	24.9
100	Cottage Grove	24.2
101	Jeffery Jump	22
102	West 103rd	20.6
103	63rd	18.7
104	74th-75th	17.8
105	87th	17.3
106	Madison	16.4
107	Halsted/95th	15.6
108	South Shore Night Bus	15.3
109	Cicero	14
109	111th/King Drive	14
111	South Halsted	13
112	67th-69th-71st	12.4
113	71st/South Shore	10.1
113	79th	10.1
115	Stony Island	9.4
116	43rd	9.3
117	South Cicero	8.9
118	95th	8.7
119	South Michigan	2.9