Ridership on King County Metro continues to remain 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.
Highlights
- From May 4-8, the average weekday bus ridership was estimated to be about 109,000, compared to 420,000 for the same time in 2019, or a 74% drop.
- Similarly, an estimated 74% fewer passengers used Metro’s Access paratransit service from May 4-8 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 76-85% compared to last year. Midday and evening ridership are down about 62-68%, and late-night ridership is down an estimated 51-59%, depending on the day of the week. (More detailed tables are below.)
- Weekend ridership has strengthened slightly in recent weeks on Saturday to 83,000, while Sunday ridership was about 72,000. These figures continue to represent about 50% of normal weekend ridership.
A new public health directive to wear masks in public and on transit was announced this week and goes into effect May 18. Metro is calling on riders to comply with the directive to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Metro’s reduced network of service has 73% of its typical weekday trips on the street, and we’ve recently added buses on high-demand routes during the midday and late at night to support social distancing efforts.
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
King County Metro bus ridership
*Unofficial total 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% |
| 4/20/2020 | 402,532 | 104,275 | -74% |
| 4/21/2020 | 420,503 | 98,176 | -77% |
| 4/22/2020 | 424,733 | 93,881 | -78% |
| 4/23/2020 | 418,512 | 100,304 | -76% |
| 4/24/2020 | 399,920 | 103,447 | -74% |
| 4/27/2020 | 411,029 | 103,657 | -75% |
| 4/28/2020 | 430,829 | 100,959 | -77% |
| 4/29/2020 | 422,600 | 104,234 | -75% |
| 4/30/2020 | 420,083 | 103,820 | -75% |
| 5/1/2020 | 405,511 | 114,059 | -72% |
| 5/4/2020 | 415,942 | 108,526 | -74% |
| 5/5/2020 | 431,041 | 109,176 | -75% |
| 5/6/2020 | 429,353 | 106,030 | -75% |
| 5/7/2020 | 423,637 | 109,253 | -74% |
| 5/8/2020 | 403,057 | 111,661 | -72% |
Key affected King County Metro routes – Average weekday ridership
*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations
Week of May 4-8
| Route | Baseline (2019) | Current (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 11,523 | 5,590 | -51% |
| 8 | 8,884 | 2,123 | -76% |
| 36 | 9,750 | 3,470 | -64% |
| 40 | 12,973 | 3,005 | -77% |
| 44 | 9,779 | 2,140 | -78% |
| 120 | 9,194 | 3,980 | -57% |
| RapidRide A Line | 10,245 | 5,475 | -47% |
| RapidRide C Line | 11,554 | 2,743 | -76% |
| RapidRide D Line | 14,351 | 4,314 | -70% |
| RapidRide E Line | 17,827 | 7,542 | -58% |
King County Metro bus ridership by time period
*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations
Morning (5-9am)
| Day | Morning (2019) | Morning (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | 113,826 | 18,387 | -84% |
| May 5 | 117,221 | 18,149 | -85% |
| May 6 | 115,624 | 17,849 | -85% |
| May 7 | 115,795 | 18,514 | -84% |
| May 8 | 102,823 | 18,636 | -82% |
Midday (9am-3pm)
| Day | Midday (2019) | Midday (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | 118,708 | 42,701 | -64% |
| May 5 | 120,991 | 41,946 | -65% |
| May 6 | 126,581 | 40,541 | -68% |
| May 7 | 121,063 | 42,142 | -65% |
| May 8 | 122,641 | 43,041 | -65% |
Afternoon (3-7pm)
| Day | Afternoon (2019) | Afternoon (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | 140,953 | 29,905 | -79% |
| May 5 | 146,166 | 30,488 | -79% |
| May 6 | 140,110 | 29,765 | -79% |
| May 7 | 139,748 | 30,118 | -78% |
| May 8 | 128,195 | 30,348 | -76% |
Evening (7-10pm)
| Day | Evening (2019) | Evening (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | 30,200 | 11,543 | -62% |
| May 5 | 33,705 | 12,401 | -63% |
| May 6 | 32,387 | 11,940 | -63% |
| May 7 | 33,592 | 12,826 | -62% |
| May 8 | 33,786 | 12,938 | -62% |
Late Night (10pm-5am)
| Day | Late Night (2019) | Late Night (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | 12,254 | 5,990 | -51% |
| May 5 | 12,958 | 6,191 | -52% |
| May 6 | 14,651 | 5,934 | -59% |
| May 7 | 13,439 | 5,653 | -58% |
| May 8 | 15,612 | 6,699 | -57% |
King County Metro Water Taxi ridership
| Date | 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 |
| April 20 | 108 |
| April 21 | 81 |
| April 22 | 92 |
| April 23 | 83 |
| April 24 | 54 |
| April 27 | 95 |
| April 28 | 88 |
| April 29 | 109 |
| April 30 | 95 |
| May 1 | 70 |
| May 4 | 101 |
| May 5 | 109 |
| May 6 | 97 |
| May 7 | 110 |
| May 8 | 72 |