Chicago City Wire

Western ridership increased by 33.2 percent during December 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 Navy Pier route saw the largest increase in ridership with a 375.5 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	Navy Pier	375.5
2	Stockton/LaSalle Express	340.8
3	Evanston Circulator	338.5
4	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	250.6
5	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	245
6	U. of Chicago/Kenwood	224.7
7	U. of Chicago/Hyde Park	203.5
8	Union/Streeterville Express	200
9	Stockton/Michigan Express	184.1
10	Bronzeville/Union Station	182.8
11	LaSalle	167.3
12	Water Tower Express	155.9
13	Sedgwick	145.6
14	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	143.4
15	Streeterville/Taylor	133.8
16	Hyde Park Express	126.6
17	Clarendon/Michigan Express	120.9
18	West 65th	115.4
19	Addison	113.5
20	U. of Chicago Hospitals Express	110.3
21	Narragansett/Ridgeland	108.5
22	Inner Drive/Michigan Express	97
22	Damen	97
24	55th/Austin	90.9
25	South Damen	85.8
26	Sheridan	78.5
27	Central/Ridge	77.7
28	Montrose	77.4
29	Outer Drive Express	75.2
30	Western Express	72.5
31	Clark	69
32	Blue Island/26th	68.4
33	California/Dodge	67.2
34	Harrison	64.3
35	Broadway	63.6
35	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	63.6
37	Archer	62.6
38	Chicago	62.5
39	Grand	59.5
40	Milwaukee	56.9
41	South Pulaski	56.8
42	Northwest Highway	56.6
43	Foster	56.2
44	Belmont	55
44	Archer/Harlem	55
46	West 63rd	53.8
47	Peterson	53.7
48	Fullerton	51.9
49	Armitage	51.5
50	Irving Park	49.9
51	North Western	49.6
52	Pershing	48.5
53	Kimball-Homan	48.4
54	Lincoln	48.2
55	Vincennes/111th	47.7
56	31st/35th	47.5
57	Higgins	46.6
58	California	44.7
59	Diversey	44.4
60	Ashland Express	44.3
61	Jackson Park Express	43.2
62	East 103rd	42.7
63	51st	40.9
64	State	40.8
65	Jackson	40.2
66	Wallace-Racine	39.6
67	Wentworth	39.3
68	Lawrence	39.2
69	Harlem	39
70	West Lawrence	38
70	Devon	38
72	Division	36.8
73	Halsted	36.2
74	Central	35.5
75	South Shore Express	35.3
76	Laramie	35
77	North	34.4
78	31st	34.2
79	Western	33.2
80	16th/18th	33.1
81	Jeffery Manor Express	32.5
82	Skokie	31.9
83	King Drive	31
83	Garfield	31
85	59th/61st	29.5
86	Pullman/115th	28
87	Cermak	27.1
88	Lunt	26.9
89	Jeffery Jump	26.5
90	Kedzie	26.3
90	55th/Narragansett	26.3
92	Roosevelt	25.8
93	Pulaski	24.9
94	Madison	23.6
95	111th/King Drive	22.4
96	74th-75th	21.8
97	47th	21.4
98	South Kedzie	20.9
99	Austin	20.3
100	West 103rd	19.9
101	South Chicago	19.8
102	South Halsted	18.8
103	Ashland	17.9
104	87th	14.5
105	63rd	13.3
106	Cicero	13.1
107	South Shore Night Bus	12.8
108	Jeffery Local	11.8
109	North Central	11
109	South Cicero	11
109	Pullman Shuttle	11
112	Stony Island	10.4
113	79th	10.1
114	Cottage Grove	9.8
115	67th-69th-71st	9.7
115	Halsted/95th	9.7
117	43rd	8.4
118	71st/South Shore	6.6
119	95th	3
119	South Michigan	3
121	Michigan/119th	1.9