Transit Ridership

Transit ridership further illustrates transportation behaviors in Champaign County. The transit ridership data shown here includes all rides on C-U MTD buses that operate within the Champaign-Urbana urban area. It is impossible to make a thorough evaluation of transportation conditions in Champaign County, or anywhere, without looking at the available transit. This indicator is closely related to Commuter Mode Share, another indicator in the Mobility category; however, the Commuter Mode Share measure does not capture non-work trips, while Transit Ridership includes all trips made on transit for any reason.

The Fiscal Year (FY) begins on July 1 of the previous calendar year, and ends on June 30 of the same calendar year as the FY. The number of rides per year had short periods of increasing and decreasing trends between FY97 and FY08. Between FY08 and FY15, there was a consistent and marked increase in rides per year. Ridership fell starting in FY15. Annual ridership in FY20 and FY21 fell sharply due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. However, annual ridership increased from FY22 to present, and annual ridership exceeded the FY20 level for the first time in FY24.

The number of rides varies by month. July has consistently had the lowest ridership numbers of the four months, followed by December, which both include University of Illinois semester breaks. October and February are the two analyzed months with the highest ridership numbers. FY21 ridership in the analyzed months (July 2020, October 2020, December 2020, and February 2021) reached record lows (going back to at least FY97) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, ridership in FY22-FY25 in the analyzed months increased from FY21 levels, indicating that people became comfortable using transit again as the community emerged out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) receives this data from C-U MTD on an annual basis.

Source: Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (C-U MTD)