CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Chicago Transit Authority reports ridership is on the rise, but it remains low compared to 2019 levels, officials said Wednesday.
Jeremy Fine, the transit agency’s chief financial officer, said during the CTA’s monthly board meeting that ridership in May was the best since the start of the pandemic.
“For the month of May, we see total revenues positive by $2.4 million, and we’re $4.5 million better than May 2022,” said Fine. “Overall … through the first five months of the year, we’re $10.1 million better than budget and $23.3 million better than the same point last year.”
May was also the best month for CTA ridership since the pandemic, with 24 million rides provided. Still, the agency has a lot of work to do to reach 2019 ridership levels. In May 2019, agency data showed that CTA riders took 40 million rides.
Officials said buses performed better than trains when compared to their 2019 ridership. In May 2023, buses reached 67% of 2019 levels while rail reached 53% of 2019 levels.
“Each week, we continue to see a trend of slow but steady increases in ridership,” Lester Barclay, chairman of the CTA board, said at the meeting.
The week of June 4 – 10 was the best CTA ridership week since the pandemic, with 5.63 million rides, according to a CTA news release. In addition to the warmer weather, events that contributed to the ridership jump included Taylor Swift’s June concert at Soldier Field, Midsommarfest in Andersonville, the Chicago Blues Fest in Millennium Park and the Old Town Art Fair.
These boosts in ridership are due to increases in peak and off-peak ridership, CTA officials said Wednesday. As more people return to work and office occupancies rise, weekday commuter ridership is increasing.
CTA ridership on June 25, the date of the Chicago Pride Parade, reached the second-highest total of any Sunday during the pandemic with more than 554,000 rides. That number is second only to the rides taken the Sunday of the 2022 Bank of America Marathon.
During NASCAR weekend July 1-2, the CTA reached the second-highest ridership of any Saturday this year, even accounting for rainy weather.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
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