Chicago City Wire

East 63rd-Cottage Grove station ridership decreased by 12.9 percent during October 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 48.8 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	48.8
2	LaSalle/Van Buren	42.8
3	Washington/Wells	40.3
4	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	37.7
5	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	35.9
6	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	35.1
7	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	34
8	Halsted (Orange Line)	32.3
9	Merchandise Mart	31.5
9	Adams/Wabash	31.5
11	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	31.1
12	Morgan	29.4
13	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	28.1
14	State/Lake	27.6
15	Paulina	26.1
16	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	25.9
17	Kildare	25.1
18	Rockwell	24.9
19	Chicago (Brown Line)	24.4
20	Medical Center	23.6
21	Clark/Lake	22.8
22	Southport	22.6
23	Kedzie-Homan	22.5
23	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	22.5
25	Logan Square	22.4
26	Western (Orange Line)	22
26	Sedgwick	22
28	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	20.9
29	Western (Brown Line)	20.6
29	Harold Washington Library	20.6
31	Diversey	20.1
32	Washington	19.8
33	Cumberland	19.7
34	Irving Park (Brown Line)	19.6
35	Washington/Wabash	19.5
36	Rosemont	18.8
37	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	18.7
37	Cermak	18.7
39	LaSalle	18
39	Midway Airport	18
39	Wellington	18
39	Armitage	18
43	Jarvis	17
43	O'Hare Airport	17
43	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	17
43	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	17
43	Addison (Brown Line)	17
43	Jefferson Park	17
43	UIC-Halsted	17
43	Ridgeland	17
51	Montrose (Brown Line)	16.1
52	Francisco	15.8
53	Pulaski (Pink Line)	15.3
54	Kedzie (Pink Line)	15.2
54	Ashland (Orange Line)	15.2
56	51st	14.6
56	35th/Archer	14.6
58	Western (Pink Line)	14.5
59	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	14.4
59	54th/Cermak	14.4
61	Kimball	13.8
62	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	13.6
63	Kedzie (Orange Line)	13.5
64	Oakton	13.3
65	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	12.9
66	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	12.8
67	South Boulevard	12.7
67	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	12.7
69	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	12.4
69	Damen (Brown Line)	12.4
71	Granville	12.3
72	95/Dan Ryan	12.1
72	Linden	12.1
74	Kostner	12
74	43rd	12
76	Cermak-Chinatown	11.4
77	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	11.1
78	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	11
78	Pulaski (Orange Line)	11
78	Argyle	11
78	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	11
78	Division	11
83	Kedzie (Brown Line)	10.4
84	Lake	10.1
85	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	10
85	Laramie	10
85	18th	10
85	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	10
89	Wilson	9.3
90	Howard	8.9
91	Fullerton	8.7
92	Sheridan	8.6
92	Dempster	8.6
94	Dempster-Skokie	8.4
95	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	8.3
96	Addison (Red Line - North Side)	8
96	North/Clybourn	8
96	Central Park	8
99	Thorndale	7.1
99	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	7.1
101	Bryn Mawr	7
101	Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare)	7
101	Central (Purple Line - Evanston)	7
101	California (Pink Line)	7
105	Roosevelt	6.3
105	Polk	6.3
105	Cicero (Pink Line)	6.3
108	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	5.8
109	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	5.7
110	Damen (Pink Line)	5.4
111	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	4.6
112	Morse	4.5
113	Conservatory	4.4
114	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	3.8
115	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	3.4
115	87th	3.4
117	Grand (Red Line - North Side)	3
117	Racine	3
119	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	2.1
120	Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch)	1.8
121	79th	1.7
122	Loyola	1.4
123	Forest Park	1.2
123	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	1.2
125	47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	1
125	Foster	1
125	Noyes	1