North Cook News

Western (Orange Line) station ridership decreased by 69 percent during November 2020 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 station that saw the largest decrease in ridership was UIC-Halsted station with a 90.6 percent drop.

Train transit experienced a 78.2 percent decline in ridership overall during the month. Bus ridership across the city during the same month saw a decrease of 61.3 percent year over year. The bus route that saw the largest decrease was the Stockton/LaSalle Express with a decrease of 95.6 percent.

So far, the CTA has made no service cuts, even with the decrease in ridership. The Metra, which provides service to many of Chicago’s suburbs, has seen a 97 percent 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.

Rank	Station	Ridership decline year over year (%)
1	UIC-Halsted	90.6
2	Quincy/Wells	90.5
3	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	89.7
4	Merchandise Mart	89.5
5	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	88.2
6	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	87.6
7	Clark/Lake	87.2
8	Washington/Wells	87
9	LaSalle/Van Buren	86.4
10	Fullerton	86.3
10	Addison (Brown Line)	86.3
12	Washington	86.1
13	Grand (Red Line - North Side)	85.8
13	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85.8
13	Southport	85.8
16	Irving Park (Brown Line)	85.6
17	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	85.5
18	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85.4
18	Racine	85.4
20	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85.2
20	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	85.2
22	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85
22	Lake	85
22	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	85
22	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	85
22	Harrison	85
27	Armitage	84.4
28	Noyes	84.1
28	LaSalle	84.1
30	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	83.9
31	Adams/Wabash	83.7
32	Damen (Brown Line)	83.6
33	State/Lake	83.4
34	Foster	83.1
34	Logan Square	83.1
34	Diversey	83.1
37	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	83
37	Wellington	83
37	Addison (Red Line - North Side)	83
37	Ridgeland	83
37	Montrose (Brown Line)	83
42	Paulina	82.3
43	Morgan	82.2
44	Rockwell	81.9
45	Western (Brown Line)	81.8
46	Cumberland	81.4
46	Sedgwick	81.4
48	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	81.3
49	Cermak-Chinatown	80.7
49	Chicago (Brown Line)	80.7
51	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	80.5
52	Loyola	80.4
52	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	80.4
54	Harold Washington Library	79.8
55	Granville	79.6
55	Linden	79.6
57	Sheridan	79.5
57	Halsted (Orange Line)	79.5
59	Division	79
60	Clark/Division	78.1
61	North/Clybourn	77.9
61	Main	77.9
63	Davis	77.6
64	Thorndale	77.5
64	Sox-35th	77.5
66	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	77.3
67	Francisco	77.2
68	Lawrence	77.1
68	Washington/Wabash	77.1
70	Bryn Mawr	76.8
71	Oakton	76.6
72	35th/Archer	76.5
73	Dempster-Skokie	76.2
74	Midway Airport	76.1
75	O'Hare Airport	75.4
75	Pulaski (Orange Line)	75.4
77	Dempster	75.2
78	Argyle	74.9
79	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	74.5
79	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	74.5
81	South Boulevard	74.4
82	Berwyn	74.3
83	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	73.8
84	Morse	73.7
84	Medical Center	73.7
84	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	73.7
87	Cermak	73.5
88	Roosevelt	73.3
89	Irving Park (Blue Line - O'Hare)	73
90	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	72.4
91	Rosemont	71.6
92	Wilson	70.9
93	Jarvis	70.5
94	35-Bronzeville-IIT	70.4
95	Damen (Pink Line)	70.1
96	Central (Purple Line - Evanston)	69.7
97	18th	69.5
98	Polk	69.1
99	Western (Orange Line)	69
99	Jefferson Park	69
99	Kedzie (Orange Line)	69
102	Indiana	67.5
103	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	66.8
104	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	66.2
104	Kildare	66.2
106	Forest Park	66
106	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	66
108	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	65.1
109	Kedzie (Brown Line)	65
110	47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	64.2
110	Kimball	64.2
112	Howard	63.9
112	Central Park	63.9
114	Ashland (Orange Line)	63.5
115	63rd	63.3
116	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	63.1
117	East 63rd-Cottage Grove	62.8
118	43rd	62.5
119	51st	62.3
120	87th	61.8
120	California (Pink Line)	61.8
122	54th/Cermak	61.6
123	Harlem (Blue Line - Forest Park)	61.5
124	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	61.4
125	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	60.8
126	69th	60.1
127	79th	59.9
128	95/Dan Ryan	59
129	Kedzie (Pink Line)	58.4
130	Western (Pink Line)	58.2
131	Kedzie-Homan	58
131	Kostner	58
131	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	58
134	Halsted (Green Line - Ashland/63rd Branch)	57.3
135	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	56.8
136	Laramie	56.3
137	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	55.8
138	Ashland/63rd	55.1
139	Pulaski (Pink Line)	54.5
140	Cicero (Pink Line)	53.1
141	Pulaski (Green Line - Lake Street)	52.3
142	King Drive	50.7
143	Conservatory	48.3
144	Pulaski (Blue Line - Forest Park)	41.3