Ridership on King County Metro remains steady at just over 100,000 daily trips across our reduced service network. This figure reflects customers using Metro to make essential trips, while many customers continue to stay home in response to public health guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19.  Metro analyzed preliminary extrapolations to create an unofficial estimate of weekly ridership, which remains substantially lower compared to a year ago.

From April 27-May 1, the average weekday bus ridership was estimated to be about 105,000, compared to 418,000 for the same time in 2019, or a 75% drop.

Similarly, an estimated 76% fewer passengers used Metro’s Access paratransit service from April 27-May 1 compared to a year ago. Water taxi routes also are seeing significantly reduced ridership, with 96% fewer riders during the same weekdays.

During the morning and afternoon commutes, estimated ridership has dropped about 80% or more compared to last year. Midday and evening ridership are down about 61-69%, and late-night ridership is down an estimated 55-62%, depending on the day of the week. (More detailed tables are below.)

Notably, weekend ridership has stabilized at about 70-75,000 on both Saturdays and Sundays.  These figures represent about 50% of normal weekend ridership.  Sunday ridership is normally about 80% of Saturday and is now almost equal.

Metro’s reduced network of service has 73% of its typical weekday trips on the street, and this week we added 15 buses to address crowding on high-demand routes. We also are limiting the number of riders per bus to support social distancing and installing seat signs to direct riders to allow more space between each other on buses. Riders who must travel are strongly urged to wear a mask or face covering to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As Gov. Inslee has extended his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order through May 31, we ask people to please continue to reserve transit for essential trips for work and for access to food, medicine, and similarly essential needs.

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

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

COVID-19 era ridership update line graph showing 75% decrease in Metro bus ridership compared to 2019

King County Metro bus ridership

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

DateBaseline
(2019)
Current
(2020)
Change
3/2/2020416,885389,103-7%
3/3/2020430,822396,544-8%
3/4/2020425,431381,634-10%
3/5/2020411,763344,562-16%
3/6/2020399,641301,111-25%
3/9/2020408,494283,259-31%
3/10/2020417,616275,642-34%
3/11/2020424,583269,362-37%
3/12/2020415,904230,570-45%
3/13/2020397,707207,253-48%
3/16/2020404,158181,732-55%
3/17/2020410,204163,519-60%
3/18/2020413,908159,033-62%
3/19/2020403,555149,350-63%
3/20/2020384,736146,983-62%
3/23/2020377,285131,543-65%
3/24/2020394,904117,852-70%
3/25/2020394,545115,874-69%
3/26/2020391,104109,210-72%
3/27/2020376,578109,633-71%
3/30/2020412,936108,418-74%
3/31/2020426,257109,490-74%
4/1/2020429,250117,709-73%
4/2/2020426,229108,079-75%
4/3/2020396,491113,640-71%
4/6/2020386,962109,611-72%
4/7/2020399,581102,590-74%
4/8/2020396,974105,624-73%
4/9/2020388,329106,453-73%
4/10/2020377,581107,688-71%
4/13/2020414,207105,947-74%
4/14/2020423,523104,672-75%
4/15/2020421,208106,603-75%
4/16/2020416,347106,735-74%
4/17/2020389,484107,565-72%
4/20/2020402,532104,275-74%
4/21/2020420,50398,176-77%
4/22/2020424,73393,881-78%
4/23/2020418,512100,304-76%
4/24/2020399,920103,447-74%
4/27/2020411,029103,657-75%
4/28/2020430,829100,959-77%
4/29/2020422,600104,234-75%
4/30/2020420,083103,820-75%
5/1/2020405,511114,059-72%

Key affected King County Metro routes – Average weekday ridership

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

Week of April 27-May 1

RouteBaseline
(2019)
Current
(2020)
Change
711,5985,201-55%
89,0122,113-77%
369,7503,323-66%
4013,1943,125-76%
449,6332,192-77%
1208,9513,607-60%
RapidRide A Line9,9785,131-49%
RapidRide C Line11,8462,635-78%
RapidRide D Line14,3644,193-71%
RapidRide E Line17,6897,013-60%

King County Metro bus ridership by time period

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

Morning (5-9am)

Day(2019)
Morning
(2020)
Morning
%
April 27112,33417,311-85%
April 28118,36317,478-85%
April 29113,71117,643-84%
April 30112,45618,151-84%
May 1103,20619,116-81%

Midday (9am-3pm)

Day(2019)
Midday
(2020)
Midday
%
April 27115,68439,960-65%
April 28120,51638,649-68%
April 29130,63340,060-69%
April 30119,45039,352-67%
May 1123,05346,114-63%

Afternoon (3-7pm)

Day(2019)
Afternoon
(2020)
Afternoon
%
April 27140,80729,255-79%
April 28145,49328,144-81%
April 29132,65529,464-78%
April 30142,36128,586-80%
May 1131,11430,767-77%

Evening (7-10pm)

Day(2019)
Evening
(2020)
Evening
%
April 2729,69911,467-61%
April 2832,21411,006-66%
April 2932,09311,622-64%
April 3031,94511,913-63%
May 132,51712,183-63%

Late Night (10pm-5am)

Day(2019)
Late Night
(2020)
Late Night
%
April 2712,5055,664-55%
April 2814,2435,681-60%
April 2913,5085,444-60%
April 3013,8705,818-58%
May 115,6215,879-62%

King County Metro Water Taxi ridership

Day(2020) Ridership
Feb. 241,910
Feb. 251,982
Feb. 261,962
Feb. 272,043
Feb. 281,540
March 21,778
March 31,892
March 41,739
March 51,383
March 6838
March 9958
March 10936
March 11845
March 12686
March 13452
March 16370
March 17274
March 18271
March 19262
March 20208
March 23183
March 24212
March 25208
March 26145
March 27115
March 30147
March 31136
April 1156
April 2144
April 3125
April 680
April 7102
April 871
April 981
April 1085
April 1383
April 1490
April 1578
April 1681
April 1772
April 20108
April 2181
April 2292
April 2383
April 2454
April 2795
April 2888
April 29109
April 3095
May 170