Ridership on King County Metro continues to gradually increase as the region adapts and adjusts during COVID-19. Masks are still required when riding transit. 

Metro analyzed preliminary extrapolations to create an unofficial estimate of weekly ridership, which remains lower compared to a year ago but shows continued signs of gradual recovery. There is also strong ridership on routes and trips utilized by our customers who are unable to telework or otherwise rely heavily on transit. 

Highlights 

  • From July 13-17, the average weekday bus ridership was estimated to be about 142,000, compared to 395,000 for the same time in 2019, or a 64% drop. 
  • Ridership tallies from some of the added bus trips are not yet reflected in the ridership data and are expected to strengthen the positive trend. 
  • Similarly, an estimated 62% fewer passengers used Metro’s Access paratransit service from July 13-17 compared to a year ago.  
  • Water Taxi route ridership has increased slightly recently, carrying an estimated 82% fewer riders compared to last year. 
  • Since the first of three service reductions in late March, Metro restored some service on June 22 – up to about 85% of pre-COVID levels. This restored service has led to some of the ridership growth. 
  • Riders continue to board at the rear doors (if able) and fare collections are suspended through July and August to support social distancing between customers and bus operators. Buses also are currently limited to 12-18 passengers depending on the size of the bus to support physical distancing and to limit the spread of COVID-19. 

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 
  • Washing your hands often and using sanitizer
  • Covering your cough or sneezes
  • Staying as far apart as possible from other people

Metro estimated ridership line graph from March through mid July 2020

King County Metro bus ridership

*Unofficial total ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations
NOTE: This list revises and replaces previously published preliminary ridership estimates

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%
3/23/2020377,285131,545-65%
3/24/2020394,904117,852-70%
3/25/2020394,545115,874-71%
3/26/2020391,104109,214-72%
3/27/2020376,578109,635-71%
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%
5/4/2020415,942108,526-74%
5/5/2020431,041109,176-75%
5/6/2020429,353106,030-75%
5/7/2020423,637109,253-74%
5/8/2020403,057111,661-72%
5/11/2020411,566108,348-74%
5/12/2020417,666109,114-74%
5/13/2020431,341111,375-74%
5/14/2020420,577107,576-74%
5/15/2020400,239114,122-71%
5/18/2020408,793113,596-72%
5/19/2020423,028112,591-73%
5/20/2020428,289112,561-74%
5/21/2020423,225110,007-74%
5/22/2020382,845112,985-70%
5/26/2020417,418114,558-73%
5/27/2020429,906117,030-73%
5/28/2020431,605114,652-73%
5/29/2020420,732118,749-72%
6/1/2020420,060121,321-71%
6/2/2020422,246117,222-72%
6/3/2020421,695121,205-71%
6/4/2020425,747116,014-73%
6/5/2020398,428118,070-70%
6/8/2020405,479118,718-71%
6/9/2020424,093112,555-73%
6/10/2020432,885124,046-71%
6/11/2020409,543119,753-71%
6/12/2020385,75775,635-80%
6/15/2020390,315118,472-70%
6/16/2020397,498125,676-68%
6/17/2020403,841125,310-69%
6/18/2020394,152131,358-67%
6/19/2020376,296133,716-64%
6/22/2020393,715135,909-65%
6/23/2020403,468134,540-67%
6/24/2020400,175134,358-66%
6/25/2020397,534138,174-65%
6/26/2020371,294136,236-63%
6/29/2020392,762136,158-65%
6/30/2020381,373127,904-66%
7/1/2020387,287141,920-63%
7/2/2020283,945138,687-51%
7/6/2020392,274137,925-65%
7/7/2020402,201135,432-66%
7/8/2020398,523138,888-65%
7/9/2020399,924136,454-66%
7/10/2020380,973144,508-62%
7/13/2020387,939140,442-64%
7/14/2020407,873142,896-65%
7/15/2020399,059144,591-64%
7/16/2020398,507141,040-65%
7/17/2020380,873138,877-64%

King County Metro Water Taxi ridership

DateRidership
2/24/20201,910
2/25/20201,982
2/26/20201,962
2/27/20202,043
2/28/20201,540
3/2/20201,778
3/3/20201,892
3/4/20201,739
3/5/20201,383
3/6/2020838
3/9/2020958
3/10/2020936
3/11/2020845
3/12/2020686
3/13/2020452
3/16/2020370
3/17/2020274
3/18/2020271
3/19/2020262
3/20/2020208
3/23/2020183
3/24/2020212
3/25/2020208
3/26/2020145
3/27/2020115
3/30/2020147
3/31/2020136
4/1/2020156
4/2/2020144
4/3/2020125
4/6/202080
4/7/2020102
4/8/202071
4/9/202081
4/10/202085
4/13/202083
4/14/202090
4/15/202078
4/16/202081
4/17/202072
4/20/2020108
4/21/202081
4/22/202092
4/23/202083
4/24/202054
4/27/202095
4/28/202088
4/29/2020109
4/30/202095
5/1/202070
5/4/2020101
5/5/2020109
5/6/202097
5/7/2020110
5/8/202072
5/11/2020108
5/12/2020104
5/13/2020103
5/14/2020104
5/15/2020118
5/18/2020121
5/19/2020107
5/20/2020113
5/21/202097
5/22/202078
5/25/2020No service
5/26/2020131
5/27/2020162
5/28/2020125
5/29/2020145
6/1/2020122
6/2/2020128
6/3/2020158
6/4/2020146
6/5/202098
6/8/2020134
6/9/2020136
6/10/2020141
6/11/2020146
6/12/2020117
6/15/2020150
6/16/2020171
6/17/2020190
6/18/2020158
6/19/2020134
6/22/2020314
6/23/2020348
6/24/2020420
6/25/2020428
6/26/2020388
6/29/2020424
6/30/2020321
7/1/2020326
7/2/2020303
7/6/2020426
7/7/2020430
7/8/2020407
7/9/2020372
7/10/2020384
7/13/2020425
7/14/2020498
7/15/2020492
7/16/2020490
7/17/2020369

Top 10 King County Metro routes ranked by current ridership

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

Week of July 13-17

WeekRouteBaseline
(2019)		Current
(2020)		Ridership
retained
July 13-171804,7963,35470%
July 13-17RapidRide A Line9,3105,88563%
July 13-17711,5167,14262%
July 13-17RapidRide F Line5,7463,33358%
July 13-171208,5624,80956%
July 13-17RapidRide E Line17,6478,49248%
July 13-17369,3474,39347%
July 13-17RapidRide D Line13,9305,41339%
July 13-17RapidRide C Line12,0143,74231%
July 13-174013,8803,90628%