Chicago Infill Rail Stations Showing Outsized Benefits in Ridership, TOD

"Over the past few years, Chicago has invested in three new 'infill' stations located along existing ‘L’ tracks, filling service gaps between stops and expanding access to the transit system," according to an article by Yonah Freemark and Mengwei Sun that credits those infill station with some of the increased ridership on the system as well as new opportunities for transit oriented development.

The CTA opened two infill stations in 2012, according to the article, "one at Morgan Street on the Green and Pink Lines and one at Oakton Street on the Yellow Line." Another station "opened at Cermak Road on the Green Line near the McCormick Place convention center in the South Loop neighborhood."

As Freemark and Sun note, "Morgan Station has been particularly effective in bringing new development to the West Loop and now attracts more than 2,300 daily riders as of March 2015." TheCermak-McCormick Place station, though brand new, has had an immediate impact on ridership. The article digs deeper into the initial data available for analysis in the wake of the new station's opening, on ridership on the "L" line, its effect on nearby bus lines, and its effect on the local real estate market.