Chicago City Wire

United Center Express ridership increased by 1,474.6% in February of this year 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 United Center Express route saw the largest increase in ridership.

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.

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	Route	Ridership increase from 2022 to 2023 (%)
1	United Center Express	1,475
2	Stockton/LaSalle Express	114.4
3	31st	89.2
4	Sedgwick	87.7
5	Clarendon/LaSalle Express	86.9
6	Sheridan/LaSalle Express	76.8
7	Bronzeville/Union Station	71
7	LaSalle	71
9	Streeterville/Taylor	61.3
10	Water Tower Express	57.2
11	Wentworth	53.5
12	South Cicero	50.6
13	Navy Pier	49.3
14	Union/Streeterville Express	48.9
15	Grand	47.9
16	Hyde Park Express	46.2
17	Harrison	43
17	Halsted	43
19	Ogilvie/Streeterville Express	42.2
20	Stockton/Michigan Express	41.8
21	Stony Island	40.7
22	Armitage	39.4
23	Division	38.1
24	Lunt	37.6
25	West Lawrence	36.4
26	South Kedzie	35.7
27	95th	33.7
28	16th/18th	33.6
29	King Drive	33.4
30	55th/Narragansett	32.2
31	55th/Austin	31.8
32	Chicago	31.6
33	South Chicago	31
33	Cermak	31
35	Archer/Harlem	30.2
36	Jackson	29.9
37	Halsted/95th	29.8
38	Clarendon/Michigan Express	28.6
38	Central/Ridge	28.6
40	Lincoln	28
40	South Shore Express	28
40	State	28
43	Western	27.3
44	Ashland Express	27.2
45	Madison	26.7
46	59th/61st	26.5
47	South Halsted	26.4
48	Pulaski	26
48	Cicero	26
50	51st	24.7
50	Blue Island/26th	24.7
52	Laramie	24.6
53	Kedzie	24.3
53	111th/King Drive	24.3
55	Wallace-Racine	24.2
56	Sheridan	24
56	South Michigan	24
56	Jeffery Manor Express	24
56	31st/35th	24
60	South Pulaski	22.9
61	California/Dodge	22.2
61	Skokie	22.2
61	Pullman Shuttle	22.2
64	Western Express	21.8
65	Narragansett/Ridgeland	21.6
66	North	21.1
67	Ashland	21
67	Devon	21
67	West 65th	21
70	Higgins	20.1
71	East 103rd	19.7
72	Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Expr	19.6
73	Fullerton	18.8
74	South Damen	18.7
75	Garfield	18.6
76	West 103rd	18.5
77	North Western	18.4
77	74th-75th	18.4
77	Pullman/115th	18.4
80	63rd	18.2
81	71st/South Shore	17.4
82	Archer	17
83	Central	15.8
84	Northwest Highway	15.3
85	Pershing	15.2
85	43rd	15.2
87	67th-69th-71st	14.1
88	California	13.9
89	West 63rd	13.3
90	Austin	13.2
91	Jeffery Jump	13
91	47th	13
91	Cottage Grove	13
94	Roosevelt	12.2
95	Milwaukee	11.7
96	Harlem	11.5
97	North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.	11.4
97	Michigan/119th	11.4
99	Montrose	11
100	North Central	10.3
101	79th	10.1
101	Foster	10.1
103	Damen	9.5
104	87th	9.4
105	Belmont	9.1
105	Evanston Circulator	9.1
107	Outer DuSable Lake Shore Expr	7.1
108	Clark	7
108	Jackson Park Express	7
108	Broadway	7
108	Irving Park	7
112	Diversey	5.9
113	Addison	3.7
114	69th-UPS Express	1.5
115	Peterson	0.7
116	Lawrence	0.6
117	Vincennes/111th	0.3