North Cook News

King Drive station ridership increased by 4.1 percent during July 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).

Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare) station saw the largest increase in ridership with an 80.7 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.

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	Station	Ridership increase from 2021 to 2022 (%)
1	Montrose (Blue Line - O'Hare)	80.7
2	Ashland (Green Line - Lake Street)	49.6
3	Quincy/Wells	47.7
4	LaSalle/Van Buren	47.6
5	Harold Washington Library	37
6	Washington/Wells	36.1
7	Adams/Wabash	35.8
8	UIC-Halsted	34.8
9	Morgan	34.3
10	Halsted (Orange Line)	31.7
11	Clinton (Blue Line - Forest Park)	31.5
12	Merchandise Mart	31.1
13	LaSalle	29.4
14	Clinton (Green Line - Lake Street)	29.1
15	State/Lake	28.7
16	Rockwell	27.7
17	Noyes	25.6
17	Irving Park (Brown Line)	25.6
19	Kedzie (Pink Line)	25.4
20	Monroe (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	25.2
21	Cermak-Chinatown	24.6
22	Chicago (Brown Line)	24.5
23	Jackson (Blue Line - Dearborn Subway)	23.9
24	Washington	23.8
25	Armitage	23.3
26	Clark/Lake	22.8
27	Wellington	22.6
27	Midway Airport	22.6
29	Addison (Brown Line)	22.5
30	Southport	22.4
31	Cermak	22.3
32	35th/Archer	22
33	Diversey	21.3
34	Francisco	21.2
35	Sedgwick	21
35	Oakton	21
35	Sox-35th	21
38	Medical Center	20.4
38	35-Bronzeville-IIT	20.4
40	Sheridan	20.1
41	Kedzie (Orange Line)	19.5
42	Jackson (Red Line - State Street Subway)	18.6
42	Kimball	18.6
44	Western (Orange Line)	18.3
45	18th	18.2
46	Fullerton	17.9
46	Central Park	17.9
48	Damen (Pink Line)	17.8
49	California (Green Line - Lake Street)	17.6
49	Western (Brown Line)	17.6
51	Paulina	17.5
52	Western (Blue Line - O'Hare)	17.4
52	Division	17.4
54	Grand (Blue Line - O'Hare)	17.3
55	Rosemont	17.2
55	Kildare	17.2
57	Roosevelt	17
57	Kedzie (Brown Line)	17
57	Oak Park (Green Line - Lake Street)	17
57	54th/Cermak	17
61	Chicago (Blue Line - O'Hare)	16.4
62	Ashland (Orange Line)	16.1
63	Jarvis	16
63	Foster	16
63	Austin (Green Line - Lake Street)	16
63	Garfield (Green Line - South Elevated)	16
63	California (Pink Line)	16
68	Logan Square	15.3
69	Belmont (Blue Line - O'Hare)	15.2
70	Harrison	15.1
71	51st	14.9
72	California (Blue Line - O'Hare)	14.8
73	Racine	14.5
74	Western (Pink Line)	14.4
75	South Boulevard	14.2
75	Montrose (Brown Line)	14.2
77	Lake	14.1
78	Pulaski (Orange Line)	14
78	Cumberland	14
78	Ridgeland	14
78	Monroe (Red Line - State Street Subway)	14
78	Granville	14
78	O'Hare Airport	14
78	Argyle	14
85	Pulaski (Pink Line)	13.4
86	Garfield (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	13
86	Damen (Brown Line)	13
88	Jefferson Park	12.2
88	Polk	12.2
90	Chicago (Red Line - North Side)	12.1
91	Thorndale	12
91	Loyola	12
91	Belmont (Red Line - North Side)	12
91	95/Dan Ryan	12
91	Cicero (Pink Line)	12
91	43rd	12
97	Addison (Blue Line - O'Hare)	11.1
98	Western (Blue Line - Forest Park)	10.9
99	Kostner	10.8
100	Oak Park (Blue Line - Forest Park)	10.6
101	Damen (Blue Line - O'Hare)	10.4
102	Kedzie-Homan	10.3
103	47th (Green Line - South Elevated)	10
103	Austin (Blue Line - Forest Park)	10
105	Howard	9.4
105	Central (Green Line - Lake Street)	9.4
107	Bryn Mawr	9.1
107	Dempster	9.1
109	Wilson	8.8
110	North/Clybourn	8.7
111	Harlem (Blue Line - O'Hare)	8.4
112	Morse	8
112	Laramie	8
112	Kedzie (Green Line - Lake Street)	8
112	Washington/Wabash	8
116	47th (Red Line - Dan Ryan)	7.2
117	Grand (Red Line - North Side)	6.7
118	Cicero (Blue Line - Forest Park)	6.3
119	Davis	5.4
120	Harlem (Green Line - Lake Street)	5.2
121	Cicero (Green Line - Lake Street)	4.4
122	King Drive	4.1
123	Main	3.6
124	Dempster-Skokie	3.4
125	79th	2.6
125	87th	2.6
127	Addison (Red Line - North Side)	2.4
128	63rd	2.3
129	Indiana	2.1
130	Forest Park	1.6
131	Clark/Division	0.9
132	69th	0.4