Ridership Patterns for RapidRide D Line

King County Metro's RapidRide D Line travels inbound from Crown Hill to downtown Seattle, primarily through Ballard, Interbay, and Uptown. Outbound trips travel north from downtown to Crown Hill. In August 2024, the D Line was the fourth busiest bus route in King County with 8,824 average weekday boardings.

Average Ridership Per Trip

The plots below show the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. For a more detailed breakdown of how the plots are set up, please refer to the How to Read the Plots section of the article discussing Route 70.

Average Weekday Ridership per D Line Trip: March 2023 to March 2024. Inbound" is toward Downtown; Outbound" is toward Crown Hill. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

Overall ridership patterns for D Line show a route that has strong demand throughout the day, especially between Ballard and downtown.

• The northern terminus of the D Line has decent ridership, despite a lack of direct transit connections. This stop is located next to a shopping center and QFC grocery store.
• The spike in inbound boardings and outbound alightings at Holman Rd & Mary Ave in Crown Hill are likely from riders transferring to/from Route 40. Route 40 ridership patterns show the spikes in the opposite direction.
• The high usage of the stop at 15th Ave & 85th St is likely due to the nearby commercial area and grocery store. Additionally, passengers can transfer here to/from Route 45. Route 45 ridership patterns show strong boarding and alighting counts for this stop as well.
• Outbound morning trips see a significant number of alightings at 15th Ave & 65th St. This stop is adjacent to Ballard High School. Inbound trips have a much lower alighting count at this stop. As Ballard High School's attendance area also includes Magnolia, more northbound trips to the school are expected.
• The 15th Ave & Market St stop sees significant ridership churn. This stop is the closest D Line stop to Ballard's commercial area on Market St, and the area around this stop has higher-density housing and a grocery store. The D Line intersects with Route 44 at this stop. Inbound trips observe more boardings than alightings while outbound trips see the opposite. The high outbound morning alighting count suggests some reverse commute trips to Ballard.
• Patterns similar to 15th Ave & Market St are observed at 15th Ave & Leary Way. This stop is also close to downtown Ballard and is immediately adjacent to commercial destinations, such as Ballard Blocks. The D Line intersects with Route 40 at this stop; however, ridership data from Route 40 suggest there are not a significant number of transfers.
• South of the Ballard Bridge, the stop at 15th Ave & Dravus St sees decent use all day. The D Line shares this stop with Route 32, but ridership data from Route 32 suggest transfers between the two routes are uncommon. Instead, most of the ridership at this stop is likely from the higher-density residential buildings in the nearby area.Outbound morning trips have a decent number of riders boarding at this stop. These may be students traveling north to Ballard High School.
• 15th Ave & Armory Way (inbound)/Newton St (outbound) has decent ridership. The area around this stop is primarily big box retail (Petco, Whole Foods Market, HomeGoods, and more) and a few apartment buildings.
• The Expedia Group headquarters is adjacent to the stop at 15th Ave & Prospect St. Both inbound and outbound trips have some passengers alight at this stop in the morning.
• The stop at Mercer St & 3rd Ave West is surrounded by mid-rise apartment buildings in Lower Queen Anne. Both inbound and outbound trips in the morning primarily see passengers board here, while the boarding and alighting counts are more even at other times of the day. The passengers boarding outbound trips in the morning may be reverse commuting to Expedia (Elliot Ave & Prospect St) or Ballard.
• The stops in Uptown (Queen Anne Ave & Mercer St, 1st Ave & Republican St (outbound only)) have strong ridership all day. These stops are close to many residential and commercial destinations, Seattle Center, and Climate Pledge Arena.Additionally, the D Line intersects with routes 1, 2, 8, 13, and 32 here.
• At 3rd Ave & Cedar St (inbound)/ Vine St (outbound) in Belltown, there are about an equal number of passengers boarding and departing. Passengers traveling between Belltown and downtown are likely riders who just ride the first bus to show up, as routes 1, 2, 4, 13, 24, and 33 all mirror the D Line along this segment.

Daily Totals Per Stop

The average daily total boarding and alighting counts show a similar pattern to the per trip data. Most D Line Riders are traveling between Ballard, Uptown, and downtown Seattle.

Average D Line Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: March 2023 to March 2024. Inbound" is toward Downtown; Outbound" is toward Crown Hill. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.Looking Ahead

As part of the Ballard Bridge/ 15th Ave NE Paving Project, the Seattle Department of Transportation is adding two new short southbound bus lanes on 15th Ave between Market St and the Ballard Bridge. Additionally, the Ballard Link Extension (BLE) is currently in development and is scheduled to start service in 2039. The extension will travel from the International District to Ballard with additional proposed stops at Midtown, South Lake Union, Seattle Center, Smith Cove, and Interbay. Last week, Sound Transit announced the start of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping comment period that will end on December 9, 2024. The most recent BLE routing/station alternatives and the scoping comment form can be found on the project's website.