New report shows which public transit stations had the smallest pandemic drops in riders, and it could hold clues to transit’s future
As the COVID-19 pandemic sent Chicago Transit Authority ridership plummeting, more riders continued taking the train in lower-income neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with more Black and Latino residents, a new report shows.
The Pulaski Blue Line station in West Garfield Park and the Conservatory Green Line station in East Garfield Park — both on the city's struggling West Side — kept more riders than any other stations during the first year of the pandemic, retaining more than half their average daily riders, according to the data from the Urban Institute.
In contrast, the Merchandise Mart station downtown, which typically served many office commuters, saw the sharpest
