Ridership on King County Metro continues to remain generally steady at about 112,000 daily trips across our reduced service network, and transit fares on Metro services will not be collected at least through the month of June. We encourage riders to follow the public health directive to wear masks or face coverings on public transportation in King County, to help protect operators, crew, and other riders 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 18-22, the average weekday bus ridership was estimated to be about 112,000, compared to 413,000 for the same time in 2019, or a 73% drop.
- Some pending ridership tallies from added bus trips is expected to show an additional slight and positive trend.
- Similarly, an estimated 73% fewer passengers used Metro’s Access paratransit service from May 18-22 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 commutes last week, estimated ridership dropped about 80-83% compared to last year; the afternoon commutes were down 74-78%. Midday ridership was down about 63-67%, evening ridership down by 56-66%, and late-night ridership is down an estimated 46-59%, depending on the day of the week. (More detailed tables are below.)
Metro has identified and increased service on routes where current demand made it harder for riders to maintain social distancing. Those routes – RapidRide A, D and E lines, and routes 7, 36 and 180 – have supplemental daytime 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. (Ridership estimates for these additional trips are not yet included in these daily estimates and extrapolations.)
Gov. Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order remains in effect and 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 mask or face covering
- 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% |
| 5/18/2020 | 408,793 | 113,596 | -72% |
| 5/19/2020 | 423,028 | 112,591 | -73% |
| 5/20/2020 | 428,289 | 112,561 | -74% |
| 5/21/2020 | 423,225 | 110,007 | -74% |
| 5/22/2020 | 382,845 | 112,985 | -70% |
Key affected King County Metro routes – Average weekday ridership
*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations
Week of May 18-22
| Route | Baseline (2019) | Current (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 11,146 | 5,571 | -50% |
| 8 | 9,107 | 2,153 | -76% |
| 36 | 9,459 | 3,652 | -61% |
| 40 | 12,948 | 3,304 | -74% |
| 44 | 9,006 | 2,187 | -76% |
| 120 | 7,951 | 3,814 | -52% |
| RapidRide A Line | 9,921 | 5,489 | -45% |
| RapidRide C Line | 11,843 | 2,810 | -76% |
| RapidRide D Line | 14,237 | 4,579 | -68% |
| RapidRide E Line | 17,349 | 7,789 | -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 18 | 112,245 | 19,929 | -82% |
| May 19 | 113,852 | 20,014 | -82% |
| May 20 | 116,349 | 20,500 | -82% |
| May 21 | 113,761 | 19,907 | -83% |
| May 22 | 96,852 | 19,406 | -80% |
Midday (9am-3pm)
| Day | Midday (2019) | Midday (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18 | 114,825 | 42,813 | -63% |
| May 19 | 117,511 | 41,845 | -64% |
| May 20 | 127,482 | 42,281 | -67% |
| May 21 | 122,036 | 40,976 | -66% |
| May 22 | 120,649 | 44,052 | -63% |
Afternoon (3-7pm)
| Day | Afternoon (2019) | Afternoon (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18 | 140,803 | 31,533 | -78% |
| May 19 | 146,011 | 31,594 | -78% |
| May 20 | 136,571 | 31,911 | -77% |
| May 21 | 139,035 | 31,201 | -78% |
| May 22 | 121,573 | 31,416 | -74% |
Evening (7-10pm)
| Day | Evening (2019) | Evening (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18 | 28,961 | 12,849 | -56% |
| May 19 | 32,040 | 12,687 | -60% |
| May 20 | 33,631 | 11,787 | -65% |
| May 21 | 34,116 | 11,760 | -66% |
| May 22 | 29,394 | 12,170 | -59% |
Late Night (10pm-5am)
| Day | Late Night (2019) | Late Night (2020) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18 | 11,959 | 6,471 | -46% |
| May 19 | 13,614 | 6,450 | -53% |
| May 20 | 14,256 | 6,082 | -57% |
| May 21 | 14,278 | 6,164 | -57% |
| May 22 | 14,377 | 5,941 | -59% |
King County Metro Water Taxi ridership
| Date | Ridership |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| May 18 | 121 |
| May 19 | 107 |
| May 20 | 113 |
| May 21 | 97 |
| May 22 | 78 |