King County Metro’s preliminary estimated ridership hovers just over 100,000 daily weekday rides, where it’s been for several weeks. Metro analyzed preliminary extrapolations to create this unofficial estimate of ridership, which remains about a quarter of what it was at this time a year ago.

From April 13-17, the average weekday bus ridership was about 106,000, compared to 413,000 in 2019, or a 74% drop.

Similarly, an estimated 78% fewer passengers used Metro’s Access paratransit service from April 13-17. Water taxi routes also are seeing significantly reduced ridership, with 96% fewer riders.

On April 18, Metro enacted a third round of service reductions to reflect lower ridership and to support the health of our workforce.

We continue to ask people to follow the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” and reserve transit only for first-responders, medical personnel, other essential workers, and people who rely on Metro for access to food, medicine, and similarly essential needs.

Please help support the health of our frontline essential staff – the operators and crews, supervisors, and maintenance staff—by:

  • Traveling only if essential
  • Staying home if you are sick,
  • Wearing a face covering when traveling,
  • Washing your hands often and using sanitizer,
  • Covering your cough or sneeze, and
  • Staying as far apart as possible from other people.

Line graph showing decreased weekday ridership through April 17

King County Metro bus ridership

*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations

Date Baseline (2019) Current (2020) Change
3/2/2020 416,885 389,103 -7%
3/3/2020 430,822 396,544 -8%
3/4/2020 425,431 381,634 -10%
3/5/2020 411,763 344,562 -16%
3/6/2020 399,641 301,111 -25%
3/9/2020 408,494 283,259 -31%
3/10/2020 417,616 275,642 -34%
3/11/2020 424,583 269,362 -37%
3/12/2020 415,904 230,570 -45%
3/13/2020 397,707 207,253 -48%
3/16/2020 404,158 181,732 -55%
3/17/2020 410,204 163,519 -60%
3/18/2020 413,908 159,033 -62%
3/19/2020 403,555 149,350 -63%
3/20/2020 384,736 146,983 -62%
3/23/2020 377,285 131,543 -65%
3/24/2020 394,904 117,852 -70%
3/25/2020 394,545 115,874 -69%
3/26/2020 391,104 109,210 -72%
3/27/2020 376,578 109,633 -71%
3/30/2020 412,936 108,418 -74%
3/31/2020 426,257 109,490 -74%
4/1/2020 429,250 117,709 -73%
4/2/2020 426,229 108,079 -75%
4/3/2020 396,491 113,640 -71%
4/6/2020 386,962 109,611 -72%
4/7/2020 399,581 102,590 -74%
4/8/2020 396,974 105,624 -73%
4/9/2020 388,329 106,453 -73%
4/10/2020 377,581 107,688 -71%
4/13/2020 414,207 105,947 -74%
4/14/2020 423,523 104,672 -75%
4/15/2020 421,208 106,603 -75%
4/16/2020 416,347 106,735 -74%
4/17/2020 389,484 107,565 -72%

 

Key affected King County Metro routes –
Average weekday ridership

*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations
Week Route Baseline (2019) Current (2020) Change
April 13-17 7 11,224 5,383 -52%
April 13-17 8 8,777 2,235 -75%
April 13-17 36 9,627 3,187 -67%
April 13-17 40 12,758 3,125 -76%
April 13-17 44 8,801 2,174 -75%
April 13-17 120 9,138 3,401 -63%
April 13-17 RapidRide A Line 9,610 4,867 -49%
April 13-17 RapidRide C Line 11,915 2,692 -77%
April 13-17 RapidRide D Line 14,105 4,393 -69%
April 13-17 RapidRide E Line 16,770 7,014 -58%

 

King County Metro Water Taxi ridership (2020)
Feb. 24 1,910
Feb. 25 1,982
Feb. 26 1,962
Feb. 27 2,043
Feb. 28 1,540
March 2 1,778
March 3 1,892
March 4 1,739
March 5 1,383
March 6 838
March 9 958
March 10 936
March 11 845
March 12 686
March 13 452
March 16 370
March 17 274
March 18 271
March 19 262
March 20 208
March 23 183
March 24 212
March 25 208
March 26 145
March 27 115
March 30 147
March 31 136
April 1 156
April 2 144
April 3 125
April 6 80
April 7 102
April 8 71
April 9 81
April 10 85
April 13 83
April 14 90
April 15 78
April 16 81
April 17 72