CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicagoans took more than 6.33 million rides on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) during the first week of October, agency officials said. The number marked the highest system ridership since the start of the pandemic.
The agency credited great weather and the Chicago Marathon for its big boost. Rides exceeded 1.5 million on both Oct. 4 and Oct. 3.
The CTA provided roughly 650,000 rides the Sunday of the marathon, which also went down as the highest Sunday ridership since 2020.
So far in 2023, CTA daily ridership has topped more than 1 million rides.
The CTA said it expects to provide nearly 26 million rides in October. September’s 25.83 million rides is the highest monthly total so far this year. In October 2019, the CTA recorded 42.38 million rides.
Bus ridership in 2023 has increased 22% in 2023 compared to 2022, the agency said. Train ridership is up 15%
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
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