Sound Transit light rail ridership surpasses express bus for first time

Strong, continuing growth in people choosing Seattle Sound Transit’s Link light rail sent weekday ridership soaring 71% for the third quarter of 2016, with the number of Link riders surpassing regional express bus users for the first time in the agency’s history.

Boardings on Sound Transit trains and buses grew 27% for the quarter compared to the same period last year. Following the 2016 openings of the University Link and Angle Lake light rail extensions, Link ridership jumped 69.3%. Sounder increased by 5.7%, and ST Express grew 2.7%. More than 5.6 million people rode Link, compared to 4.8 million who rode ST Express.

Link averaged 67,893 riders each weekday from July to September, up from 63,577 weekday riders for April to June. On Sept. 30, Mariners and Husky football games helped generate an estimated 101,000 Link boardings.

To view the full quarterly ridership report, click here.