<P> As of mid-2006, the "L" accounted for 36% of the CTA's nearly 1.5 million weekday riders, with the remainder traveling on the extensive bus network . The rail system's ridership has increased over time . In 1926, the year of peak prewar rail usage, the "L" carried 229 million passengers--seemingly a formidable number, but actually less than 20% of the 1.16 billion Chicago transit patrons that year, most of whom rode the city's streetcars . The shift to rail has continued in recent times . Since its low point in 1992 due to the Chicago Flood that closed subway tunnels in the downtown area, weekday "L" ridership has increased about 25%, while bus ridership has decreased by roughly a sixth . </P> <P> Currently, with two exceptions, all lines operate at all times except late nights . The exceptions are the Red Line and the Blue Line, which operate 24 / 7 . Prior to 1998, the Green Line, the Purple Line and the Douglas branch of the Blue Line also had 24 hour service . In the years of private ownership, the South Side Elevated Railroad (now the South Side Elevated portion of the Green Line) provided 24 hour service, a major advantage when compared to Chicago's cable railroads which required daily overnight shutdown for cable maintenance . </P> <P> As of 2018, the "L" uses a flat fare of $2.50 for almost the entire system, the only exception being O'Hare International Airport on the Blue Line, at which passengers entering the station are charged a higher fare of $5.00 (passengers leaving the system at this station are not charged this higher fare). The higher fare is being charged for what the CTA considers "premium - level" service to O'Hare . Use of the Midway International Airport Station does not require this higher fare; it only requires the $2.50 regular fare . The higher charge at O'Hare has been the source of some controversy in recent years, because of the CTA's plan to eliminate the exemption from the premium fare for airport workers, Transportation Security Administration workers, and airline workers . After protests from those groups, the CTA extended the exemptions for six months . </P> <P> The CTA's current capital improvement spending is focused on the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project, Slow Zone Elimination, and the rehabilitation of the Red Line . In 2012, the CTA reopened the Green Line's Morgan station, and the Village of Skokie reopened the Yellow Line's Oakton station . Both stations were closed in 1948 after the CTA was created, and the original stations were demolished soon after . </P>

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