Ridership on King County Metro continues to remain steady at just over 100,000 daily trips across our reduced service network. We’re in the first week of a new directive to wear masks or face coverings in King County and on public transportation, and by wearing a mask you are helping support and protect drivers and customers who are using Metro to make essential trips.
Metro analyzed preliminary extrapolations to create an unofficial estimate of weekly ridership, which remains substantially lower compared to a year ago.
Highlights
- From May 11-15, the average weekday bus ridership was estimated to be about 110,000, compared to 416,000 for the same time in 2019, or a 73.5% drop.
- Similarly, an estimated 74% fewer passengers used Metro’s Access paratransit service from May 11-15 compared to a year ago. Water taxi routes also are seeing significantly reduced ridership, with 95% fewer riders during the same weekdays.
- During the morning and afternoon commutes last week, estimated ridership has dropped about 75-84% compared to last year. Midday and evening ridership was down about 60-67%, and late-night ridership is down an estimated 53-57%, depending on the day of the week. (More detailed tables are below.)
Metro has identified and increased service on routes where current demand led to full buses and made it hard for riders to maintain social distancing. Those routes – RapidRide A, D and E lines, and routes 7, 36 and 180 – have supplemental midday trips using 18 buses. Night service on route 7 and the RapidRide A and E lines also have additional trips using 6 buses to help spread out and reduce the number of riders on each bus.
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% |
| 5/11/2020 | 411,566 | 108,348 | -74% |
| 5/12/2020 | 417,666 | 109,114 | -74% |
| 5/13/2020 | 431,341 | 111,375 | -74% |
| 5/14/2020 | 420,577 | 107,576 | -74% |
| 5/15/2020 | 400,239 | 114,122 | -71% |
Key affected King County Metro routes – Average weekday ridership
*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations
Week of May 11-15
| Week | Route | Baseline (2019) | Current (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11-15 | 7 | 11,014 | 5,759 | -48% |
| May 11-15 | 8 | 9,036 | 2,187 | -76% |
| May 11-15 | 36 | 9,651 | 3,554 | -63% |
| May 11-15 | 40 | 13,522 | 3,191 | -76% |
| May 11-15 | 44 | 9,254 | 2,215 | -76% |
| May 11-15 | 120 | 9,266 | 3,462 | -63% |
| May 11-15 | RapidRide A Line | 9,913 | 5,490 | -45% |
| May 11-15 | RapidRide C Line | 12,058 | 2,713 | -77% |
| May 11-15 | RapidRide D Line | 14,343 | 4,423 | -69% |
| May 11-15 | RapidRide E Line | 17,197 | 7,821 | -55% |
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 11 | 111,601 | 18,287 | -84% |
| May 12 | 117,394 | 19,284 | -84% |
| May 13 | 118,675 | 19,406 | -84% |
| May 14 | 115,420 | 18,729 | -84% |
| May 15 | 103,296 | 18,505 | -82% |
Midday (9am-3pm)
| Day | Midday (2019) | Midday (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11 | 116,839 | 41,886 | -64% |
| May 12 | 114,447 | 41,049 | -64% |
| May 13 | 127,661 | 41,882 | -67% |
| May 14 | 120,541 | 39,307 | -67% |
| May 15 | 121,436 | 44,100 | -64% |
Afternoon (3-7pm)
| Day | Afternoon (2019) | Afternoon (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11 | 139,420 | 30,778 | -78% |
| May 12 | 141,641 | 30,837 | -78% |
| May 13 | 139,431 | 31,174 | -78% |
| May 14 | 138,562 | 31,103 | -78% |
| May 15 | 127,826 | 31,595 | -75% |
Evening (7-10pm)
| Day | Evening (2019) | Evening (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11 | 30,578 | 11,486 | -62% |
| May 12 | 31,032 | 11,793 | -62% |
| May 13 | 31,710 | 12,769 | -60% |
| May 14 | 32,332 | 12,544 | -61% |
| May 15 | 32,211 | 12,919 | -60% |
Late Night (10pm-5am)
| Day | Late Night (2019) | Late Night (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11 | 13,128 | 5,912 | -55% |
| May 12 | 13,152 | 6,151 | -53% |
| May 13 | 13,865 | 6,144 | -56% |
| May 14 | 13,722 | 5,893 | -57% |
| May 15 | 15,471 | 7,004 | -55% |
King County Metro Water Taxi ridership
| Date | Riders |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| May 11 | 108 |
| May 12 | 104 |
| May 13 | 103 |
| May 14 | 104 |
| May 15 | 118 |