Will Chicagoland rail ridership increase by much?

Does anybody have statistics about Chicagoland (both CTA and Metra combined) total rail (not bus) ridership in the past few decades? I know that rail ridership declined significantly since 1950, but began to rise again in the late 90's, and is continuing to rise. What I wonder, though, is whether the current gains will continue to be very small (20-30 million additional rides/year) or whether we will ever see huge gains again. Frank Kruesi, in a recent press statement in response to the RTA giving the CTA all 54 million dollars, said that "there are huge increases in ridership" expected in the future. What role are the current developments on the north side (near the ubiquitous CTA and Metra stations) playing in this? What role will future development on the south side play in increasing transit ridership? Does anybody have any ideas about this?>