Preliminary ridership data from the past month shows a continued decline as more people limit themselves to “essential travel” to grocery stores, pharmacies, and worksites that serve the community.
King County Metro analyzed preliminary extrapolations to create an unofficial estimate of ridership. During the week of March 23-27, ridership was down as much as 72% compared to the same window of time in 2019.
On average, March 23-27 saw an average weekday bus ridership of 117,000 compared to 387,000 in 2019, or a 70% drop in ridership.
Similarly, the dip was estimated to be about 74% fewer riders on Metro’s Access paratransit service as demand decreased. Water taxi routes also are seeing significantly reduced ridership, with 93% fewer riders than at the beginning of the month.
Having fewer riders on buses during this time helps support the health of our front-line essential staff – the bus drivers and supervisors we count on every day. Limiting the spread of COVID-19 also keeps more in our community safe, including our transit operator workforce of which 25% are age 60 and older.
Other recent changes: boarding, fares, ‘safety straps’
As of March 23, Metro is operating a reduced schedule of transit service in response to decreased ridership and to create a resilient service network. Metro canceled several routes while maintaining service on most routes to serve as many customers as possible who rely on transit during our health crisis. To address observed instances of crowding, Metro restored some trips on downtown Seattle routes to help support further social distancing between riders.
Metro recently took a number of steps to support the health of the community and Metro employees by installing ‘safety straps’ on buses to create distance for the driver and reserve the front of the bus for customers requiring boarding assistance, eliminating fare collections to reduce interactions between drivers and customers, reserving the front door for riders who need assistance boarding and exiting, and requiring riders to board and exit at the back door.
Our commitment is to the safety of our community and we appreciate your support as you follow the guidance to take only essential trips and to “Stay Home, Stay Healthy.”
| King County Metro bus ridership
*Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations |
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| 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% |
| Key affected King County Metro routes – Average weekday ridership *Unofficial ridership estimates are preliminary and based on samples and extrapolations |
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| Week | Route | Baseline (2019) | Current (2020) | Change |
| March 23-27 | 3 | 8,246 | 2,302 | -72% |
| March 23-27 | 7 | 11,371 | 5,572 | -51% |
| March 23-27 | 8 | 8,384 | 2,393 | -71% |
| March 23-27 | 36 | 9,402 | 3,353 | -64% |
| March 23-27 | 40 | 12,730 | 3,251 | -74% |
| March 23-27 | 120 | 8,394 | 3,389 | -60% |
| March 23-27 | RapidRide A Line | 8,895 | 5,239 | -41% |
| March 23-27 | RapidRide C Line | 11,682 | 2,987 | -74% |
| March 23-27 | RapidRide D Line | 14,151 | 4,817 | -66% |
| March 23-27 | RapidRide E Line | 16,932 | 7,690 | -55% |
| King County Metro Water Taxi 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 |
Jeff,
Metro is doing too little & way too late!! As usual Metro is reactive instead of proactive! The safety & health of Operators, Supervisors & passengers are not Metro’s priority! METRO DOES NOT PROVIDE PPE’S FOR EMPLOYEES & DO NOT PROVIDE SOCIAL DISTANCING AT THE BUS BASES!! METRO SAYS SAFETY IS THEIR PRIORITY. WATCH WHAT THEY DO INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO WHAT THEY SAY!! ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!!
Is the 150 still running late going southbound from downtown Seattle?
Hi Ann,
None of the late trips on the 150 have been cancelled. Only three southbound trips have been cancelled, and all three in the afternoon.
You can see which specific trips have been cancelled here: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/schedules-maps/reduced-schedule/canceled-trips.aspx