Last year, the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) rail and bus rides totaled 521.2 million, a 1 percent decrease compared with 2008 ridership.

However, annual ridership was stronger than expected in light of the recession; the agency had projected 517.4 million rides in 2009, CTA officials said in a prepared statement. In addition, last year’s ridership surpassed 2007’s total of 439.5 million rides.

Rail ridership in 2009 increased 2.2 percent to 202.6 million rides, with the largest gains registered outside of morning and evening rush periods. Bus ridership dropped 2.9 percent to 318.7 million rides.

During the past decade, CTA’s ridership rose 11.7 percent, with rail passengers “leading the surge” by increasing 21.7 percent, the agency said.