Chicago Transit Authority ridership inched up 0.5 percent overall in 2006 from the previous year, with a relatively strong gain on trains offset by a drop-off in bus customers, the agency reported Monday.
CTA trains provided 195.2 million rides last year, up 4.5 percent from 2005, the transit agency said. Buses, which account for two-thirds of total CTA ridership, provided 298.4 million rides in 2006, a 1.6 percent reduction from 2005.
The half-percent increase overall on buses and trains boosted CTA ridership to its highest level since 1993 and continued a string of ridership increases in eight of the last nine years, officials said.
An improving economy in recent years, creating more jobs in the region, has fueled the ridership increases.
Statistics show that many new transit customers are choosing rail travel to avoid worsening traffic congestion that slows buses.
But that pattern could change when extensive track work begins in April on the Red Line, the CTA’s busiest rail route, along the North Side between the Addison and Armitage stops.
The work, which will also affect service on the Brown and Purple/Evanston Express Lines until late 2009, is expected to double travel times for many rush-hour train commuters, the CTA said.
The transit agency is advising riders of the three rail lines to avoid crowded station platforms and packed slow-moving trains by switching to CTA buses and Metra trains.
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jhilkevitch@tribune.com
