CTA reaches milestone with one million weekday rides in May 2024

In May 2024, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has announced that it has achieved a significant milestone in its post-pandemic recovery efforts, reporting over 27.7 million train and bus rides. This surge in ridership marks the first time since the onset of the pandemic that weekday averages have surpassed one million rides, reflecting promising trends in the city’s public transit usage.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said: “This report of one million weekday rides indicates that the promising trends in our public transit system have tangible results. Transit continues to have a substantial economic impact on our city and region, and we remain dedicated to ensuring it is safe and accessible for all.”  

Notably, bus routes that received enhanced scheduled services experienced a notable uptick, with a 10% increase in weekday ridership compared to March 2024. Overall, CTA’s proactive measures to improve service reliability have resulted in reduced average wait times across its network.

CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. underscored the agency’s commitment to restoring pre-pandemic service levels by the year’s end, stating, “This milestone shows that CTA is on track and providing the services that our customers deserve and need. Thanks to our ongoing, aggressive recruiting, hiring and training efforts, our bus and rail services are more reliable and we’re also providing more services.”

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In 2024, CTA has already surpassed one million rides on 22 days, including 12 days in May alone, marking a significant recovery compared to 2023 when similar milestones were achieved on 27 occasions throughout the year.

Moreover, CTA has made substantial strides in addressing workforce shortages by intensifying recruitment efforts. The agency plans to double its training capacity for new operators in 2024, aiming to hire up to 200 new operators to bolster its workforce. In 2023, CTA successfully onboarded 1,000 new bus operators, nearing optimal staffing levels.

The final Friday in May set a new benchmark with the highest ridership since the pandemic’s onset, underscoring the steady resurgence of public transit usage in Chicago. Typically, Friday ridership slightly lags behind other weekdays by approximately 5%.