CTA Ridership Down In '09

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 21, 2010 8:30PM

It was the slightest of dips, but a dip nonetheless. CTA ridership was down one percent in 2009 over 2008. Rail ridership was up in '09 by two percent (just over 202 million) while bus ridership was down by three percent (around 319 million rides). But the CTA is upbeat about the small decrease, saying they expected it to much worse because of the economy and point to an overall double-digit growth over the last decade. We still wonder, though, what spin they'll put on the numbers next year when there's an even larger decrease thanks to those service cuts. We're all dusting off, tuning up, and winterizing our bikes.