Table Of Content

Monthly Ridership Report January 2016 Prepared by: Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting 2/15/2016 Table of Contents How to read this report...........................................................................................i Monthly notes.........................................................................................................ii Executive Summary.............................................................................................. iii Monthly Summary..................................................................................................1 Bus Ridership by Route.........................................................................................2 Rail Ridership by Entrance....................................................................................7 Average Weekday Cross-Platform Transfers......................................................23 How to read this report Introduction This report shows how many customers used the combined 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 Monthly 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. 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. The “Rail Boardings by Line” section shows a statistically valid estimate of the actual number of boardings onto each line. 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 Planning Analytics cannot determine 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 best to use the weekday, Saturday, and Sunday averages rather than the monthly totals. The monthly totals are affected by the number of weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the month, which can vary from year to year. For example, May 2005 and 2006 had the following breakdown of days: 2005 2006 Weekdays 21 22 Saturdays 4 4 Sundays/Holidays 6 5 As weekdays typically have much higher ridership than Sundays, May 2006 would report higher monthly ridership than May 2005, all else equal. Averaging circumvents this problem. However, for the purposes of month-to-month and year-over-year comparisons, the report also includes a “Calendar Adjusted” monthly 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 one month of data comparable to another. 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. All other holidays are reported as the type of day they fall on. Page i Executive Summary – January 2016 System Overview Total bus and rail system ridership grew 1.2% in January this year compared to last year. Rail ridership climbed 3.4% in January and the bus system declined by 0.7%. Weekday ridership grew by 1.9% and outperformed weekend ridership, which saw Saturdays lose 0.9% and Sundays lose 3.3%. Weekdays outperformed the weekends throughout 2015 as well. Bus Bus ridership decreased by 0.7% this month compared with January 2015. Weekdays increased 0.3% while weekends decreased by 4.9%. Gas Prices were down $0.38 versus December and were down $0.51 compared to last January. Rail Rail ridership increased 3.4% in January compared with a year ago. Weekday rail ridership increased 3.8% and weekend ridership was up 1.9%. The Blue Line’s O’Hare branch grew by 4.8% and Red Line North grew by 3.6%. The Brown Line also increased by 3.4% and continues to perform well following a down year in 2015 which was due to weekend construction projects. Page iii Monthly Notes – January 2016 The following changes in CTA service over the past year have a potential impact on this month’s ridership figures. Systemwide Service Impacts Station Closures Rail stations c an be closed occasionally f or construction. The closures can result in what appears to be very dramatic increases or decreases (e.g. > 20%) in average daily rail ridership on a year-over-year basis both f or the station being closed and potentially for nearby stations as well. When service is suspended or 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 Ridership by Route” section as Route #1001 Shuttle/Special Event Route. Bus Service Impacts Discontinued Services The weekend service that was added to the #39 route was part of an 180-day experiment (Feb 7, 2015 – Sept 6, 2015). Due to low ridership, the experimental Sunday service is being discontinued Bus Service Reroutes #7 Harrison & #60 Blue Island/26th (Jan 4 until further notice), #1 Bronzeville/Union Station, #28 Stony Island, #121 Union/Wacker Express, #126 Jackson, #151 Sheridan, #156 LaSalle, & 7 Harrison (Jan 25-Jan 2017 or completion), #78 Montrose (Oct 26-May 5, 2016), #36 Broadway (Jan 25-Mar 25 or completion), #78 Montrose & #91 Austin (Jan 4-Mar 7 or completion), #73 Armitage (Jan 22-Feb 29 or completion), #51 51st & #94 South California (Dec 29- Jan 29), #151 Sheridan (Dec 8-Jan 8 or completion), New Bus Routes and Routings The following routes began operating December 21st on the new Loop Link Bus Rapid Transit corridor in Chicago’s central business district: #J14 Jeffery Jump, #20 Madison, #56 Milwaukee, #60 Blue Island/26th, #124 Navy Pier, & #157 Streeterville/Taylor. New Express Routes began operating December 21st include the #X49 Western Express, & X9 Ashland Express. 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. Line/Location Dates Affected Detail Brown Line/Diversey Jan 9, 16, 23-24 North bound bypass Diversey for track maintenance to ensure safety. New Entrance Opened at Clark/Division Station On June 30, 2014, the new entrance to Clark/Division Red Line Subway Station from LaSalle Blvd opened to the public. The new 8000-foot mezzanine entrance is equipped two elevators—one between the entrance and the mezzanine and another connecting the mezzanine to the platform. Clark St entrance closed temporarily on June 30th for reconstruction. New Cermak-McCormick Place Station opens on the Green Line On February 9th, 2015, the new Cermak-McCormick Station opened to the public on the Green Line. The station is located between Cermak and 23rd St on Wabash and it will serve the growing area near historic Motor Row and McCormick Place. Closure of Madison/Wabash Station The Madison/Wabash station in the Loop closed on March 16th for the construction of the new, modern Washington/Wabash station, located between Madison and Washington streets. Adjacent Randolph/Wabash and Adams/Wabash serve as alternatives to the closed station. Page ii 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, Weekdays 21 20 Saturdays, and Sundays each year. Monthly ridership statistics are provided below as both 'actual total' and 'calendar adjusted total', the latter being a Saturdays 5 5 normalized figure that facilitates year-to-year and month-to-month comparisons. Sundays 5 6 Monthly Monthly Total (actual) Monthly Total (Cal. Adj.) Year-to-date Total (actual) Year-to-date Total (Cal. Adj.) System Totals Last Yr Cur Yr Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Bus 21,404,075 20,751,114 21,426,368 21,279,565 -0.7% 21,404,075 20,751,114 21,426,368 21,279,565 -0.7% Rail 17,992,806 18,164,698 18,035,347 18,645,895 3.4% 17,992,806 18,164,698 18,035,347 18,645,895 3.4% System Total 39,396,881 38,915,812 39,461,715 39,925,460 1.2% 39,396,881 38,915,812 39,461,715 39,925,460 1.2% System Daily Average Weekday Average Saturday Average Sunday Averages Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Bus Boardings 818,414 820,946 0.3% 501,402 480,737 -4.1% 342,076 321,418 -6.0% Rail (Total Boardings) 696,823 722,996 3.8% 388,946 401,238 3.2% 282,958 283,098 0.0% Rail (Station Entries) 570,769 592,207 312,414 322,287 230,056 230,171 Rail (Cross-Platform Transfers) 126,054 130,789 76,532 78,951 52,901 52,928 System (Total Boardings) 1,515,237 1,543,942 1.9% 890,348 881,975 -0.9% 625,034 604,516 -3.3% January 2016 Page 1 Bus Ridership by Route Note: all bus routes are accessible Average Weekday Average Saturday Average Sunday Year-to-date Rides Route Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg 1 Bronzeville/Union Station 1,959 1,898 -3.1% 41,135 37,968 -7.7% 2 Hyde Park Express 3,135 3,321 5.9% 65,825 66,414 0.9% 3 King Drive 17,766 17,254 -2.9% 12,150 10,996 -9.5% 7,469 7,057 -5.5% 471,185 442,408 -6.1% 4 Cottage Grove 20,109 19,690 -2.1% 13,541 12,194 -9.9% 9,187 8,641 -5.9% 535,916 506,621 -5.5% 5 South Shore Night Bus 433 456 5.1% 468 481 2.8% 509 436 -14.3% 13,987 14,137 1.1% 6 Jackson Park Express 9,448 9,275 -1.8% 8,725 8,107 -7.1% 6,007 5,416 -9.8% 272,064 258,527 -5.0% 7 Harrison 5,692 5,444 -4.3% 119,526 108,883 -8.9% 8 Halsted 20,996 21,230 1.1% 12,057 11,568 -4.1% 7,824 7,734 -1.2% 540,317 528,847 -2.1% 8A South Halsted 3,004 2,989 -0.5% 2,188 2,070 -5.4% 1,454 1,382 -5.0% 81,296 78,411 -3.5% 9 Ashland 25,357 17,848 -29.6% 18,238 16,096 -11.7% 12,238 11,150 -8.9% 684,869 504,333 -26.4% X9 Ashland Express 7,763 100 155,362 10 Museum of S & I 460 464 502 8.3% 425 438 3.2% 4,901 5,141 4.9% 11 Lincoln 1,570 1,578 0.5% 911 849 -6.8% 599 512 -14.6% 40,523 38,881 -4.1% 12 Roosevelt 13,373 13,604 1.7% 8,015 8,015 0.0% 6,229 5,782 -7.2% 352,050 346,853 -1.5% J14 Jeffery Jump 10,910 10,640 -2.5% 5,950 5,200 -12.6% 3,428 2,976 -13.2% 275,997 256,657 -7.0% 15 Jeffery Local 6,826 7,129 4.4% 4,569 4,437 -2.9% 3,331 3,277 -1.6% 182,855 184,423 0.9% 18 16th/18th 3,218 3,668 14.0% 2,219 2,215 -0.2% 1,631 1,661 1.8% 86,835 94,404 8.7% 19 United Center Express 318 205 -35.6% 168 21 -87.4% 183 120 -34.4% 3,967 3,286 -17.2% 20 Madison 17,636 17,359 -1.6% 9,609 9,458 -1.6% 7,015 6,640 -5.3% 453,470 434,311 -4.2% 21 Cermak 7,853 8,373 6.6% 6,648 6,361 -4.3% 3,706 3,809 2.8% 216,691 222,108 2.5% Page 2 January 2016 Note: all bus routes are accessible Average Weekday Average Saturday Average Sunday Year-to-date Rides Route Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg 22 Clark 17,733 16,998 -4.1% 14,076 12,871 -8.6% 10,875 9,686 -10.9% 497,151 462,421 -7.0% 24 Wentworth 2,714 2,836 4.5% 56,988 56,714 -0.5% 26 South Shore Express 3,061 3,044 -0.6% 64,282 60,881 -5.3% 28 Stony Island 6,659 6,442 -3.3% 3,384 2,968 -12.3% 2,204 1,926 -12.6% 167,781 155,245 -7.5% 29 State 11,821 11,399 -3.6% 8,718 7,851 -10.0% 6,020 5,508 -8.5% 321,930 300,283 -6.7% 30 South Chicago 3,387 3,293 -2.8% 2,021 1,837 -9.1% 616 640 3.9% 84,315 78,891 -6.4% 34 South Michigan 4,786 4,772 -0.3% 3,192 3,220 0.9% 2,458 2,325 -5.4% 128,753 125,483 -2.5% 35 31st/35th 5,047 5,352 6.0% 2,805 2,796 -0.3% 2,019 1,952 -3.3% 130,111 132,727 2.0% 36 Broadway 12,691 12,208 -3.8% 13,885 12,361 -11.0% 10,309 8,978 -12.9% 387,478 359,839 -7.1% 37 Sedgwick 1,796 1,768 -1.6% 37,724 35,356 -6.3% 39 Pershing 1,838 1,981 7.8% 599 38,599 42,623 10.4% 43 43rd 1,574 1,594 1.3% 790 741 -6.2% 498 430 -13.6% 39,504 38,168 -3.4% 44 Wallace-Racine 3,688 3,572 -3.1% 1,595 1,568 -1.7% 1,139 1,030 -9.6% 91,114 85,463 -6.2% 47 47th 9,037 9,425 4.3% 6,753 6,370 -5.7% 4,477 4,395 -1.8% 245,933 246,725 0.3% 48 South Damen 1,051 1,088 3.5% 22,066 21,755 -1.4% 49 Western 21,754 16,202 -25.5% 14,575 13,896 -4.7% 9,870 9,167 -7.1% 579,048 448,528 -22.5% 49B North Western 4,926 5,240 6.4% 3,372 3,463 2.7% 2,476 2,403 -3.0% 132,696 136,544 2.9% X49 Western Express 6,272 50 48 125,530 50 Damen 9,650 9,939 3.0% 5,328 4,947 -7.2% 3,475 3,331 -4.1% 246,656 243,506 -1.3% 51 51st 1,364 1,328 -2.6% 828 764 -7.7% 580 543 -6.3% 35,689 33,649 -5.7% 52 Kedzie/California 11,090 11,680 5.3% 6,841 6,667 -2.6% 4,554 4,292 -5.8% 289,873 292,686 1.0% 52A South Kedzie 4,013 3,986 -0.7% 2,066 1,774 -14.1% 1,286 1,161 -9.7% 101,032 95,565 -5.4% 53 Pulaski 18,054 18,688 3.5% 11,738 11,099 -5.4% 7,771 7,660 -1.4% 476,673 475,210 -0.3% Page 3 January 2016 Note: all bus routes are accessible Average Weekday Average Saturday Average Sunday Year-to-date Rides Route Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg 53A South Pulaski 7,136 7,673 7.5% 3,133 3,031 -3.3% 1,804 1,827 1.3% 174,548 179,581 2.9% 54 Cicero 10,266 10,451 1.8% 7,812 7,343 -6.0% 5,304 4,965 -6.4% 281,165 275,521 -2.0% 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. 791 727 -8.1% 16,606 14,540 -12.4% 54B South Cicero 2,931 3,026 3.2% 2,583 2,488 -3.7% 1,554 1,493 -4.0% 82,241 81,915 -0.4% 55 Garfield 9,910 10,272 3.7% 6,802 6,848 0.7% 5,296 5,308 0.2% 268,600 271,519 1.1% 55A 55th/Austin 282 304 7.7% 5,917 6,072 2.6% 55N 55th/Narragansett 485 606 24.9% 177 163 -7.7% 11,065 12,928 16.8% 56 Milwaukee 9,540 8,776 -8.0% 5,299 4,892 -7.7% 3,471 2,954 -14.9% 244,195 217,712 -10.8% 57 Laramie 4,418 4,348 -1.6% 2,456 2,203 -10.3% 1,619 1,361 -15.9% 113,159 106,150 -6.2% 59 59th/61st 3,514 3,460 -1.5% 1,925 1,758 -8.6% 83,417 77,998 -6.5% 60 Blue Island/26th 9,786 9,611 -1.8% 4,874 4,657 -4.5% 3,499 3,261 -6.8% 247,368 235,058 -5.0% 62 Archer 9,357 10,135 8.3% 5,817 5,656 -2.8% 3,871 4,044 4.5% 244,947 255,256 4.2% 62H Archer/Harlem 818 1,040 27.2% 374 415 11.0% 19,052 22,884 20.1% 63 63rd 16,310 15,450 -5.3% 10,770 9,424 -12.5% 7,922 7,095 -10.4% 435,971 398,682 -8.6% 63W West 63rd 1,247 1,375 10.2% 507 576 13.5% 358 421 17.5% 30,520 32,901 7.8% 65 Grand 7,608 7,975 4.8% 4,162 4,160 0.0% 2,743 2,579 -6.0% 194,301 195,777 0.8% 66 Chicago 22,544 22,819 1.2% 13,656 12,956 -5.1% 9,358 8,943 -4.4% 588,499 574,821 -2.3% 67 67th-69th-71st 11,798 11,451 -2.9% 8,607 7,566 -12.1% 5,787 5,357 -7.4% 319,731 298,990 -6.5% 68 Northwest Highway 1,140 1,437 26.1% 531 446 -16.1% 332 321 -3.2% 28,250 32,899 16.5% 70 Division 8,801 9,155 4.0% 5,623 5,301 -5.7% 3,942 3,645 -7.5% 232,651 231,482 -0.5% 71 71st/South Shore 8,312 8,192 -1.4% 6,218 5,715 -8.1% 4,601 4,382 -4.7% 228,638 218,718 -4.3% 72 North 14,268 14,948 4.8% 11,472 11,188 -2.5% 7,525 7,126 -5.3% 394,620 397,646 0.8% 73 Armitage 4,372 4,640 6.1% 1,644 1,598 -2.8% 1,034 1,065 3.0% 105,192 107,171 1.9% Page 4 January 2016 Note: all bus routes are accessible Average Weekday Average Saturday Average Sunday Year-to-date Rides Route Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg Last Yr Cur Yr % Chg 74 Fullerton 11,905 12,244 2.8% 8,404 8,485 1.0% 5,564 5,432 -2.4% 319,842 319,892 0.0% 75 74th-75th 6,907 6,957 0.7% 5,097 4,330 -15.0% 3,731 3,412 -8.6% 189,184 181,259 -4.2% 76 Diversey 11,347 11,506 1.4% 6,790 6,579 -3.1% 4,003 3,804 -5.0% 292,253 285,842 -2.2% 77 Belmont 20,929 21,435 2.4% 13,066 12,966 -0.8% 9,167 8,798 -4.0% 550,679 546,324 -0.8% 78 Montrose 7,894 6,880 -12.9% 4,670 4,306 -7.8% 3,048 2,774 -9.0% 204,365 175,765 -14.0% 79 79th 24,878 25,472 2.4% 18,179 16,971 -6.6% 13,214 12,817 -3.0% 679,398 671,192 -1.2% 80 Irving Park 11,861 11,940 0.7% 8,162 7,928 -2.9% 5,536 5,111 -7.7% 317,574 309,110 -2.7% 81 Lawrence 11,121 11,545 3.8% 8,615 8,699 1.0% 6,199 6,247 0.8% 307,614 311,876 1.4% 81W West Lawrence 1,493 1,640 9.8% 878 877 0.0% 509 476 -6.4% 38,287 40,036 4.6% 82 Kimball-Homan 17,801 18,566 4.3% 10,706 10,365 -3.2% 7,146 6,819 -4.6% 463,081 464,058 0.2% 84 Peterson 3,707 3,806 2.7% 1,846 1,782 -3.5% 1,173 1,165 -0.7% 92,939 92,013 -1.0% 85 Central 9,714 9,779 0.7% 6,276 5,955 -5.1% 4,327 3,991 -7.8% 257,019 249,310 -3.0% 85A North Central 812 599 -26.2% 284 293 3.1% 18,478 13,453 -27.2% 86 Narragansett/Ridgeland 2,557 2,336 -8.7% 53,700 46,711 -13.0% 87 87th 12,159 12,546 3.2% 8,252 8,108 -1.8% 5,642 5,659 0.3% 324,807 325,411 0.2% 88 Higgins 1,154 1,332 15.4% 591 564 -4.5% 365 384 5.0% 29,025 31,760 9.4% 90 Harlem 4,267 4,513 5.8% 3,032 2,919 -3.8% 1,854 1,729 -6.8% 114,038 115,226 1.0% 91 Austin 6,511 6,389 -1.9% 3,742 3,311 -11.5% 2,381 2,132 -10.5% 167,354 157,133 -6.1% 92 Foster 6,527 6,507 -0.3% 3,624 3,460 -4.5% 2,422 2,415 -0.3% 167,304 161,932 -3.2% 93 California/Dodge 3,088 3,346 8.4% 1,374 1,404 2.2% 71,718 73,938 3.1% 94 South California 8,678 8,786 1.2% 4,322 4,183 -3.2% 3,015 2,902 -3.8% 218,913 214,039 -2.2% 95E 93rd-95th 3,571 3,564 -0.2% 2,334 2,226 -4.6% 1,630 1,620 -0.6% 94,804 92,121 -2.8% 95W West 95th 2,135 2,062 -3.4% 2,012 1,585 -21.2% 1,542 1,322 -14.2% 62,599 57,090 -8.8% Page 5 January 2016