Sound Transit ridership up 23% in 2016 systemwide

Nearly forty-three million people rode Seattle’s Sound Transit trains and buses in 2016, a 23.1% system-wide increase over 2015.

Link light rail ridership surged 65.8% with the opening of new stations serving Capitol Hill, the University of Washington, and Angle Lake.

“It is encouraging to see such dramatic increases in ridership,” said Board Chair and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “Every time someone chooses Link, Sounder or ST Express, they are helping our region’s economy and the environment. As we expand the regional rail network in the years ahead we will enable more and more people to climb aboard.”

Ridership growth particularly picked up late in the year. Average weekday ridership during the fourth quarter increased 27.9% over the same period in 2015, with light rail weekday ridership growing 83.8%.

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