Chicago City Wire

Western (Blue Line - O'Hare) station ridership increased by 23.7 percent during September 2022 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).

Quincy/Wells station saw the largest increase in ridership with a 55 percent rise.

Rail and bus 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.

While ridership hasn't returned to pre-pandemic levels, CTA's president Dorval R. Cart Jr. said weekday ridership has doubled since the initial shutdown and continues to increase.

Rank	Station	Ridership increase from 2021 to 2022 (%)
1	Quincy/Wells	55
2	LaSalle/Van Buren	41.9
3	Washington/Wells	41.5
4	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	38.9
5	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	37.9
6	Merchandise Mart	37.5
7	Adams/Wabash	32.1
8	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	31.9
9	Halsted (Orange Line)	30.5
10	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	27.3
11	Morgan	27.2
12	Rockwell	25.7
13	State/Lake	24.5
14	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	24.3
14	Clark/Lake	24.3
16	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	23.7
17	Irving Park (Brown Line)	23.5
18	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	22.5
19	Logan Square	21.8
19	Southport	21.8
21	Chicago (Brown Line)	21.2
22	Diversey	21.1
23	Roosevelt	20.3
24	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	20.2
25	Wellington	20
25	Cermak	20
25	Midway Airport	20
25	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	20
25	Western (Orange Line)	20
25	Harold Washington Library	20
31	South Boulevard	19.1
32	O'Hare Airport	18.9
33	Rosemont	18.4
34	Ridgeland	18.3
35	Paulina	18.1
36	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	17.9
36	LaSalle	17.9
38	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	17.4
38	Pulaski (Pink Line)	17.4
38	Sedgwick	17.4
38	Ashland (Orange Line)	17.4
42	Washington	17.1
43	Division	17
43	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	17
43	Granville	17
43	35th/Archer	17
47	UIC-Halsted	16.2
48	Armitage	16.1
49	Wilson	15.7
49	Kildare	15.7
51	Western (Brown Line)	15.5
52	Dempster	15.4
52	Jefferson Park	15.4
54	Jarvis	15.1
54	Addison (Brown Line)	15.1
56	Washington/Wabash	15
56	Kedzie (Pink Line)	15
56	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	15
56	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	15
56	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	15
56	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	15
56	Cumberland	15
56	Argyle	15
64	Kedzie-Homan	14.4
65	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	13.9
66	95/Dan Ryan	13.6
66	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	13.6
66	Francisco	13.6
66	Kedzie (Orange Line)	13.6
70	Medical Center	13.2
71	Kimball	13
71	Lake	13
71	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	13
71	Central Park	13
75	43rd	12.4
76	Pulaski (Orange Line)	12.1
77	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	12
77	Fullerton	12
77	Cermak-Chinatown	12
77	54th/Cermak	12
81	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	11.3
82	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	11.2
83	Oakton	11
83	Kedzie (Brown Line)	11
83	Damen (Brown Line)	11
83	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	11
83	Montrose (Brown Line)	11
88	Sheridan	10.3
89	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	10.1
89	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	10.1
91	Laramie	9.7
92	51st	9.6
93	Western (Pink Line)	9.5
94	Noyes	9.2
95	Thorndale	8.9
96	North/Clybourn	8.6
96	18th	8.6
98	Howard	8.5
99	Conservatory	8.1
100	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	7.7
101	Polk	7.6
102	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	7
103	Morse	6.4
104	Kostner	6.2
105	Bryn Mawr	5.9
105	Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare)	5.9
107	Foster	5.5
107	Damen (Pink Line)	5.5
109	35-Bronzeville-IIT	5
109	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	5
109	87th	5
112	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	4.4
113	79th	4.3
114	Racine	4.1
115	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	4
116	California (Pink Line)	3
116	63rd	3
116	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	3
119	Forest Park	2.4
120	Davis	2.2
121	Cicero (Pink Line)	2.1
122	Loyola	1.9
123	Main	1.7
124	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	1.4
125	Dempster-Skokie	0.9
126	Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch)	0.2