The agency continues to see growing ridership since the pandemic
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) provided more than one million rides multiple times in late August and in early September-- marking the first time the agency has recorded daily ridership exceeding more than one million rides, multiple days on back-to-back weeks since the pandemic.
“I want to thank the students, parents, commuters, and leisure riders for helping CTA hit this important ridership milestone. As we continue to recover from the pandemic, these milestones demonstrate the necessity, sustainability and affordability of CTA service for our communities,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “While special events have helped boast ridership on the weekends, hitting and exceeding the one million rides mark on weekdays is an encouraging sign that Chicagoland is back on board CTA’s buses and trains. We are thrilled to see more riders returning to the CTA.”
The last week of August and the first week of September were particularly strong for CTA ridership, which saw more than one million rides recorded on the following four days: Tuesday, August29; Wednesday, August 30; Wednesday, September6; and Thursday, September 7, the latter of which saw over 1,033,000 rides – the highest daily ridership level to-date since before the pandemic.
In between these record-breaking ridership days, overall ridership was higher-than-usual peaking at more than 964,000 rides on August 31, and more than 992,000 rides on September 1.
Students returning to classrooms for the 2023-2024 school year have helped contribute to this ridership jump. The fall months are typically the highest ridership months for the CTA, suggesting that additional ridership milestones could occur in the weeks ahead.
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