Monthly Ridership Report

July 2019

Prepared by:

Chicago Transit Authority
Ridership Analysis and Reporting
8/7/2019

Table of Contents

How to read this report...........................................................................................i Executive Summary...............................................................................................ii Monthly Notes…….................................................................................................iii

Monthly Summary..................................................................................................1 Bus Ridership by Route.........................................................................................2 Rail Ridership by Entrance....................................................................................8 Average Weekday Cross-Platform Transfers......................................................24

How to Read This Report

Introduction

This report shows how many customers used the CTA bus and rail systems for the year. Ridership statistics are given on a system-wide and route/station-level basis. Ridership is primarily counted as boardings, that is, customers boarding a transit vehicle (bus or rail). On the rail system, there is a distinction between station entries and total rides, or boardings. The official totals on the Annual Summary report show the total number of boardings made to CTA vehicles.

How are customers counted?
Rail

On the rail system, a customer is counted as an entry each time he or she passes through a turnstile to enter a station. In the “Rail Entries” section of the report, customers are not counted when they make a free “cross-platform” transfer from one rail line to another, since they don’t pass through a turnstile to do so.

Some CTA stations serve more than one line. The “Rail Entries” report does not show the number of customers boarding each line at such stations, simply the total number of customers who entered the station. For example, even though Howard station is reported as part of the Red Line, customers also enter at Howard to ride the Purple and Yellow Lines.

Bus

Boardings are recorded using the bus farebox and farecard reader. In the uncommon situation when there is an operating error with the farebox and it cannot be determined on which route a given trip’s boardings should be allocated, these boardings are tallied as Route 0. These are not included in the Ridership by Route section of the report, however they are included in the monthly bus system totals.

How do I compare this year to last year? What is a “Calendar Adjustment”?

When comparing one year to another, it is often best to use the weekday, Saturday, and Sunday averages rather than totals. A monthly or annual total is affected by not only the number of weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, which can vary somewhat from year to year, but also based on what days of the week certain holidays fall on. For example, April 2016 and 2017 had the following breakdown of days:

• 2016
• 2017

Weekdays Saturdays
21 5
20 5

• Sunday/Holidays
• 4
• 5

As weekdays typically have much higher ridership than Saturdays, April 2016 would report higher total monthly ridership than April 2017, all else equal. Using averages by day type circumvents this problem.

For the purposes of month-to-month and year-over-year comparisons, the report also includes a “Calendar Adjusted” annual total of bus, rail, and system ridership. This is calculated by applying a normalization factor to a given month’s total ridership figures to correct any discrepancies in the number of weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, thereby making the data comparable.

Note that New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day are considered as “Sundays” for the purposes of ridership reporting, as CTA operates a Sunday schedule on these holidays. All other holidays are reported as the type of day they fall on.

Page i

Executive Summary – July 2019

System Overview

Total bus and rail system ridership decreased 2.3% this month, compared with July 2018. Bus ridership fell by 1.1% and rail ridership declined 3.6%. Weekday ridership decreased by 2.5% with Saturdays down 2.8% and Sundays down 0.5%.

Year-to-date, total system ridership was down 2.7%, with bus down 2.4% and rail down 3.0%. Ridership was affected this month by relatively low gas prices and competition from ride-hailing companies.

Bus

July 2019 bus ridership fell by 1.1% this month compared to July 2018. Year-to-date bus ridership decreased 2.4% from a year ago. The Downtown (+0.8%) and North-Side Downtown (+0.2%) bus route groups were the top performers of the month.

Rail

Rail ridership fell 3.6% in July 2019 compared with the same month a year. Year-to-date, total rail ridership is down 3.0%. The Dearborn branch of the Blue Line (+0.9%) was the best performing branch of the month.

Page ii

Monthly Notes – July 2019

The following changes in CTA service over the past year have a potential impact on this month’s ridership figures.

Systemwide Service Impacts

StationClosures

Rail stations

c

an be closed occasionally

f

or

c

onstruction. The closures can result in what appears to be very dramatic increases or decreases (e.g. > 20%) in

• or the station being closed and potentially for nearby stations as well. When service is suspended or
• average daily rail ridership on a year-over-year basis both

f

rerouted on the rail system, service is maintained by a bus shuttle connecting the closed or bypassed rail stations. Riders on this shuttle are tallied in the “Bus Ridershipby Route” section as Route #1001 Shuttle/Special Event Route.

Bus Service Impacts

Bus Service Reroutes

#6 Jackson Park Exp (Oct 24 2016 until further notice), #30 South Chicago, #N5 South Shore Night Bus & #67 67^th-69^th-71st (Jul 22 2019-Jun 26 2020 or completion), #95 95^th (Jul 29-Sep 20 or completion), #57 Laramie (Jul 29-Sep 1 or completion), #152 Addison (Jul 29-Aug 26 or completion), #84 Peterson (Jul 8- Aug 17 or completion), #9 Ashland (Jun 24-Aug 15 or completion), #70 Division (Jun 27-Aug 7 or completion), #12 Roosevelt (Jul 22-Aug 5 or completion), #81 Lawrence (Jul 8-Aug 3 or completion), #87 87^th (Jul 2-26 or completion), #112 Vincennes/111^th (Jul 2-19 or completion), #7 Harrison & #60 Blue Island/26th (Jun 21-Jul 12 or completion), #155 Devon (May 7-Jul 1 or completion).

Reroutes on certain routes near events during the July 4^th Fireworks Night at Navy Pier, Lollapalooza Event, and the 2019 Taste of Chicago.

Rail Service Impacts

Temporary Service Suspensions and Reroutes

Due to ongoing construction activity to maintain and modernize the CTA rail system, some lines experience periodic day, night, & weekend closures or reroutes. All Red Line service returned to normal on 11/22/18. Some Red Line trains were operating between Howard and Ashland/63^rd due to construction related to the 95^th Street Terminal Improvement Project.

• Line/Location
• Dates Affected

Jul 1-2 Jul 7-8, 9-11 Jul 14-15 Jul 22-25 Jul 28-31

Detail

Red Line South bound/bypass Red Line South bound/bypass Red Line South bound/bypass Red Line North bound/bypass Red Line North bound/bypass
South bound bypass Jarvis thru Loyola while performing track maintenance to ensure continued safety. South bound bypass Granville thru Bryn Mawr while performing track maintenance to ensure continued safety. South bound bypass Argyle and Lawrence while performing track maintenance to ensure continued safety. North bound bypass Lawrence and Argyle while performing track maintenance to ensure continued safety. North bound bypass Bryn Mawr thru Granville while performing track maintenance to ensure continued safety. North bound bypass of Diversey station while performing track maintenance to ensure continued safety. Shuttle buses will replace rail service between Ashland and Clinton, while making track improvements.
Brown Line North bound/bypass Jul 6-7 Green Line station connection Jul 12-15, 26-29

Page iii

Monthly Summary

Calendar Operating Days

• Day Type
• Last Year
• This Year

When analyzing monthly ridership trends, it is important to account for the possibility that the same month may have a different number of weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays each year. Monthly ridership statistics are provided below as both 'actual total' and 'calendar adjusted total', the latter being a normalized figure that facilitates year-to-year and month-to-month comparisons.
Weekdays Saturdays Sundays
21
4
22
4

• 6
• 5

• Monthly Total (actual)
• Monthly Total (Cal. Adj.)
• Year-to-date Total (actual)
• Year-to-date Total (Cal. Adj.)

Monthly System Totals

• Last Yr
• Cur Yr
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr
• % Chg

• Bus
• 19,757,072 19,903,916

19,431,262 19,103,898

39,188,334 39,007,814

19,895,890 19,683,150 -1.1% 19,569,323 18,861,539 -3.6%

39,465,213 38,544,689 -2.3%

140,252,309 136,779,648 129,877,846 125,925,215

270,130,155 262,704,863

140,262,311 136,883,283 129,898,714 125,960,575

270,161,025 262,843,858

-2.4% -3.0%

-2.7%

Rail

System Total

System Daily Averages

• Average Weekday
• Average Saturday
• Average Sunday

• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg

• Bus Boardings
• 744,644

736,493

605,664 130,829

730,442 713,671

586,896 126,775

-1.9% -3.1%
477,600 457,867

370,413
87,454

484,182 425,089

343,895
81,194

• 1.4%
• 368,192

355,573

288,596
66,977

379,494 340,555

276,407
64,148

3.1%
Rail (Total Boardings)

Rail (Station Entries)

• -7.2%
• -4.2%

Rail (Cross-Platform Transfers)

• System (Total Boardings)
• 1,481,137 1,444,113 -2.5%
• 935,467
• 909,270 -2.8%
• 723,765
• 720,050
• -0.5%

Page 1

• July
• 2019

Bus Ridership by Route

• Average Weekday
• Average Saturday
• Average Sunday
• Year-to-date Rides

Note: all bus routes are accessible

Last Yr

1,591 3,368
16,286 18,834
450

• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg

Route

• 1
• Bronzeville/Union Station

Hyde Park Express King Drive
1,649 3,388
15,623 18,762
450
3.7% 0.6% -4.1% -0.4% 0.1% -1.2% -9.1% 3.4% 0.5% -3.5% -0.7%

• 255,621
• 256,365

515,493
0.3%

• 1.4%
• 2
• 508,421

• 3
• 11,126

12,983
506
11,329 13,072
1.8% 0.7%
8,621
10,420
475
8,554
10,369
470
-0.8% -0.5% -0.9% -0.6%
3,009,139 3,554,490
88,872
2,891,350 3,495,615
84,246
-3.9% -1.7% -5.2% -0.2% -3.3% 1.4%

• 4
• Cottage Grove

South Shore Night Bus Jackson Park Express Harrison

• 5
• 436 -13.8%

• 6
• 8,975

4,143
17,337
2,500
16,626
7,004
715
8,870 3,766
17,919
2,513
16,042
6,955

• 8,973
• 8,625
• -3.9%
• 6,795
• 6,755
• 1,740,185

735,816
1,737,460

• 711,464
• 7

• 8
• Halsted
• 11,036

1,969
11,815
2,001
7.1% 1.7% 0.6%
8,143 1,459
8,650 1,444
6.2% -1.0% 1.1%
3,578,499
510,606
3,627,422

• 489,018
• 8A

9
South Halsted Ashland
-4.2% -6.1% -3.8%
-26.3%
0.3%

• 16,958
• 17,055
• 12,858
• 13,003
• 3,445,659

1,206,205
36,826
3,235,173 1,159,876
27,146
X9 10 11 12 J14 15 18 19 20 21
Ashland Express Museum of S & I Lincoln

• 591 -17.4%
• 734

807

• 504 -31.2%
• 773

541
526 -31.9%
1,403
11,682 10,305
6,863 3,333
119

• 1,440
• 2.6%

-5.9% 0.2%
783
7,085 5,517 5,175 2,355
-3.0% -7.8% 4.0%
556
5,609 3,934 3,939 1,931
5
2.8% -4.9% 2.5% 0.6% 9.3%

• 254,561
• 255,240

• Roosevelt
• 10,998

10,325
6,732 3,345
118
7,680 5,305 5,207 2,094
193
5,900 3,840 3,917 1,767
2,236,669 1,845,933 1,304,618
666,422
2,100,431 1,815,483 1,289,405
660,024
-6.1% -1.6% -1.2% -1.0% -9.4% -1.9% -1.5%
Jeffery Jump Jeffery Local 16th/18th
-1.9% 0.3%
-0.6% 12.5%
United Center Express Madison
-0.5% -5.0% -4.3%

• 76 -60.7%
• 15,985
• 14,483

15,536
8,841
14,754
8,461
9,453 6,194
9,240 6,484
-2.3% 4.7%
7,488 4,611
7,715 4,591

• 3.0%
• 2,918,884

1,610,003
2,864,731

• 1,586,064
• Cermak
• -0.4%

Page 2

• July
• 2019

• Average Weekday
• Average Saturday
• Average Sunday
• Year-to-date Rides

Note: all bus routes are accessible

Last Yr

15,637
2,413 4,180 5,808
11,467
2,831
298

• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr
• Cur Yr % Chg
• Last Yr

3,074,021
378,107 625,797
1,049,969 2,032,670
547,970
67,996

Cur Yr % Chg

Route

22 24 26 28 29 30 31 34 35 36 37 39 43 44 47 48 49 49B X49 50 51 52

• Clark
• 16,058

2,514 4,136 5,549
11,355
2,743
339
2.7% 4.2%

• 12,354
• 13,061
• 5.7%
• 10,690
• 10,813
• 1.1%
• 3,056,410

387,902 610,951 996,421
2,045,260
526,719
66,148
-0.6%

• 2.6%
• Wentworth

South Shore Express Stony Island State
-1.1% -4.4% -1.0% -3.1% 13.5% -1.5% -3.9% -0.6% 5.8%
-2.4% -5.1% 0.6%
3,143 9,063 1,887
3,014 9,944 2,022
-4.1% 9.7% 7.2%
2,394 7,825
903
2,405 7,826 1,016
0.5% 0.0%
South Chicago 31st

• 12.5%
• -3.9%

-2.7% -5.7% -5.5% -0.6% 3.6%
South Michigan 31st/35th
4,534 4,655
11,654
1,289 1,869 1,423 2,849 8,804
637
4,465 4,473
11,584
1,364 1,831 1,341 2,848 8,852
644
3,189 2,818
3,092 2,906
-3.0% 3.1% 1.7%
2,556 2,278 9,544
2,509 2,197 9,155
-1.8% -3.6% -4.1%
878,165 868,765
2,364,877
212,784 321,217 246,713 552,920
1,676,452
133,536
3,037,182
960,173 939,605
1,651,242
242,229
2,161,349
828,042 820,851
2,350,297
220,347 306,065 238,345 526,725
1,634,533
126,214
2,957,126
937,839 911,868
1,641,143
228,412
2,098,122
Broadway Sedgwick

• 11,189
• 11,376

• Pershing
• -2.0%

-5.8% -0.1% 0.6%
670 758

• 684
• 2.1%
• 493

611

• 555
• 12.5%
• -4.7%

-3.4% -4.7% -2.5% -5.5% -2.6% -2.3% -3.0% -0.6% -5.7% -2.9%

• 43rd
• 650 -14.3%
• 537 -12.0%

Wallace-Racine 47th
1,434 6,546

• 1,346
• -6.2%

-5.5%
1,098 4,822

• 1,060
• -3.5%

• 2.5%
• 6,187
• 4,944

South Damen Western
1.1%
15,387
5,014 5,144 8,485 1,200
11,303
15,267
5,156 5,192 8,437 1,151
10,905
-0.8% 2.8%
13,729
3,607
13,566
3,501
-1.2% -2.9%
10,205
2,932
10,380
3,066
1.7%

• 4.6%
• North Western

Western Express Damen
0.9% -0.6% -4.0% -3.5%
5,302
677
5,360
716
1.1% 5.9% -7.3%
3,730
598
3,865
637
3.6% 6.4% -2.0%
51st

• Kedzie/California
• 7,288
• 6,759
• 5,305
• 5,197