Taylor Swift, Special Events Help CTA Post Highest Weekly Ridership in Years

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced it provided 5.63 million rides for the week of June 4-10, the highest number since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Multiple special events helped contribute to the ridership jump.

Taylor Swift's Impact on Ridership

The week started off strong on June 4, thanks to the Taylor Swift fans who chose to use the system to get to the sold-out concert at Soldier Field.

The three-night concert generated more than 43,000 additional bus and rail rides at the Roosevelt station and on the #146 Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Express route.

Roughly 690,000 riders tapped onto the system Saturday, June 10, many on their way to and from popular summer festivals such as Midsommarfest in Andersonville, the Chicago Blues Fest in Millennium Park and the Old Town Art Fair—garnering the highest Saturday ridership since the pandemic.

No Chicago Cubs? No Problem

On Friday and Saturday, even with the Cubs out of town, ridership at the Addison Red Line station was similar to gameday levels thanks to the Dead & Company concerts.

Last week’s gains build upon the ridership increases seen across the system in the spring.

Notably, since the start of the Kennedy reconstruction project in late March, the CTA has seen increased ridership on the O’Hare branch of the Blue Line, which parallels the expressway.

Weekday morning ridership on the O’Hare branch of the Blue Line reached a new high the week of June 4, gaining another 200 rides per day on average, totaling more than 70,000 riders for the week.