Chicago: Record Number of Riders Take 'L,' But Bus Use Slips in 2015, CTA Says

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IL: Record Number of Riders Take 'L,' But Bus Use Slips in 2015, CTA Says

Marwa Eltagouri On Feb 15, 2016
Source: McClatchy


Feb. 13--The Chicago Transit Authority has announced a record number of rail passengers during 2015, at more than 241 million riders.

But while rail ridership broke the 2014 record with 3.5 million more rides, bus ridership fell by about 1.8 million rides in 2015. Bus ridership was affected by February 2015's blizzard, which caused some of the coldest recorded temperatures in Chicago's history, officials said. Several months of downtown construction also affected bus ridership.

CTA ridership for bus and rail systems combined reached about 515 million, CTA officials said in a news release.

Among rail stations, the Red Line saw the largest number of rides in 2015, with 78.8 million, and the Blue Line came in second with 46.8 million rides, according to data released by CTA officials. Overall ridership for the Brown Line dipped 2.9 percent since 2014.

Ridership increased most at the Loop's Randolph/Wabash and Adams/Wabash stations, up 32.7 and 30.8 percent since 2014, respectively, in part due to the closure of the Madison/Wabash station, officials said. There was also a spike in rides at the Blue Line's California, Damen and O'Hare stations, up 22.5, 20.3 and 15.3 percent since 2014. ................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/12169883/record-number-of-riders-take-l-but-bus-use-slips-in-2015-cta-says