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In 2004, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) officials expected a fare increase and proposed service cuts to decrease ridership. Instead, ridership increased slightly, albeit because of more bus riders.

Last year, CTA carried 444.5 million passengers, a 0.1 percent increase compared with 2003. Although bus ridership increased 0.8 percent, rail ridership decreased 1.3 percent.

However, rail ridership increased on the 54th/Cermak branch of the Blue Line, which CTA finished rehabilitating last month. The line carried an average of 8,750 weekday passengers — a 12 percent increase compared with 2003.

Rail ridership also increased 3 percent on the Blue Line between Jefferson Park and O’Hare International Airport, but decreased on a number of other lines.