Chicago City Wire

South Shore Night Bus ridership increased by 18.1 percent during November 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 433.5 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	433.5
2	Evanston Circulator	389.3
3	Stockton/LaSalle Express	368.4
4	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	367.4
5	Navy Pier	350.2
6	U. of Chicago/Hyde Park	305.5
7	Union/Streeterville Express	287.1
8	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	278.7
9	Water Tower Express	216.4
10	Streeterville/Taylor	209
11	Bronzeville/Union Station	205
12	LaSalle	197.8
13	Stockton/Michigan Express	197.3
14	Sedgwick	192.6
15	U. of Chicago Hospitals Express	177
16	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	158.1
17	West 65th	151.1
18	Hyde Park Express	149.9
19	Clarendon/Michigan Express	144.3
20	Central/Ridge	133.3
21	Addison	131.2
22	Narragansett/Ridgeland	130.9
23	55th/Austin	130.8
24	Damen	110.3
25	South Damen	106.5
26	Harrison	103.8
27	Blue Island/26th	101.3
28	Inner Drive/Michigan Express	100.5
29	Montrose	86.8
30	Sheridan	85.7
31	Western Express	81.3
32	Archer/Harlem	77.6
33	Outer Drive Express	75.6
34	31st	75.2
35	California/Dodge	74
35	Higgins	74
37	Wentworth	72.8
37	Grand	72.8
39	Northwest Highway	71.8
40	Chicago	70.6
41	Archer	70.2
42	South Pulaski	69.9
43	Clark	67.4
44	Armitage	67
45	Peterson	66
45	Halsted	66
47	Ashland Express	65.3
48	Broadway	64.5
49	55th/Narragansett	63.6
50	Belmont	63.5
51	31st/35th	63
51	Fullerton	63
53	Milwaukee	61.1
54	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	60.3
55	South Shore Express	57.8
56	Kimball-Homan	57
56	Diversey	57
56	East 103rd	57
59	Irving Park	55.6
60	West 63rd	55
61	16th/18th	53.8
62	Vincennes/111th	52.4
63	Foster	52.1
64	Jackson	50.3
65	Pershing	50
65	North Western	50
67	Lincoln	47.6
68	Harlem	46.9
69	California	46.2
70	North	44.1
71	Division	43.2
72	State	42.5
73	King Drive	41.7
74	West Lawrence	41.5
75	South Chicago	39.9
76	Devon	39.6
77	Lawrence	39
77	Jackson Park Express	39
79	Wallace-Racine	38.1
80	51st	37.9
81	Laramie	37.5
82	59th/61st	36.8
83	Central	35.5
84	South Kedzie	35.3
85	Garfield	35.1
86	Cermak	32.8
87	Lunt	31.9
88	Western	31.7
89	Roosevelt	31.2
90	Skokie	31
90	Jeffery Jump	31
92	Pullman/115th	28.3
93	Kedzie	28.2
94	47th	27.6
94	Halsted/95th	27.6
96	Madison	27
97	Pulaski	26.3
98	Cottage Grove	23.6
99	West 103rd	23.5
100	Ashland	21.2
101	87th	20.4
102	74th-75th	19.2
103	Stony Island	18.6
104	South Shore Night Bus	18.1
105	South Halsted	17
105	Cicero	17
105	Austin	17
108	Jeffery Local	16.1
109	Jeffery Manor Express	15.9
110	111th/King Drive	15.2
111	63rd	15
111	67th-69th-71st	15
113	North Central	13.9
114	71st/South Shore	13.6
115	79th	12.9
116	South Cicero	10.4
117	43rd	9.2
118	95th	8.9
119	Michigan/119th	1.6
120	South Michigan	1.5