It’s not your imagination – Metro’s RapidRide C and D lines are more popular than ever.
Just a month out from our largest service change ever, it’s clear the adjustments we’ve made to provide better service are paying off for thousands who ride our buses.
Even before the service change took effect, ridership on the two lines was climbing. The C Line connecting West Seattle to downtown Seattle showed an impressive 12 percent annual jump with the D Line serving downtown to Ballard up 9 percent from a year earlier.
But what a difference a month makes. Since extending the C Line to South Lake Union and the D Line to Pioneer Square on March 26, ridership has jumped again –26 percent and 21 percent respectively compared to the same period last year.
While it will take a bit longer to confirm formal ridership trends, so far we like what we see. We think these growth numbers show our riders are, in fact, experiencing better connections, service reliability and better alternatives to driving.
And of course, this data reinforces what we and our riders have known for quite a while – RapidRide remains popular across the board. Ridership has been on an upward swing since we introduced the A Line back in 2010.
And there’s more to come. We think RapidRide will continue to play a pivotal role in our future mix of transit services. Our long-range plan, Metro Connects, calls for 20 additional rapid transit lines. You can find out more about our long-range thinking by visiting www.kcmetrovision.org.
Great news. How is the E doing by way of comparison?