Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 8

King County Metro's Route 8 travels inbound from Uptown to Mount Baker, primarily east and south through South Lake Union, Capitol Hill, Madison Valley, and the Central District. Outbound trips travel north and west from Mount Baker to Uptown. In August 2024, Route 8 had 6,177 average weekday boardings.

Unlike most of the high ridership routes in King County, Route 8 does not travel to downtown Seattle nor is it the fastest transit option to travel end-to-end. Instead, it has an east-west segment from Uptown to Madison Valley and a north-south segment from Madison Valley to Mount Baker. The two segments are distinct from both a geographic and ridership perspective.

Route 8 Map from King County Metro (Source)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 Route 8 Trip: March 2023 to March 2024. Inbound" is toward Mount Baker; Outbound" is toward Uptown. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

The overall ridership patterns for Route 8 show a route with significant ridership between South Lake Union and Capitol Hill along with lower ridership through the Central District to Mount Baker. Some observations:

• Route 8's northern terminus in Uptown (Queen Anne Ave & Mercer St) is surrounded by higher-density housing and retail and has transfers to routes 1, 2, 13, 32, and D Line. This stop is also adjacent to the Seattle Center and the Climate Pledge Arena. All of these factors contribute to its strong ridership throughout the day.
• Even though Route 8 is the only east-west route between Uptown and South Lake Union, most riders who start their trip in Uptown are not traveling to SLU. Route 8's infamous unreliability along Denny Way might be a factor as people traveling between those two neighborhoods may opt to walk or roll, or take an indirect transit route via downtown Seattle.
• Ridership between SLU and Capitol Hill is at its highest during the peak direction but is still strong throughout the day. The significant ridership in outbound morning trips and inbound afternoon trips suggests Route 8 is serving commuters who live in Capitol Hill and work in South Lake Union. These two neighborhoods are separated by I-5 and a steep hill, barriers that may cause some people to use Route 8 instead of walking or rolling.
• E John St & Broadway E (inbound)/10 Ave E (outbound) is the busiest stop pair on the route. These stops are adjacent to the Capitol Hill Link Station. From the data, it's not clear how many riders are transferring to/from Link as the many residences, shops, and other destinations in the area are also trip generators.
• The stops along E John St and E Thomas St have predominantly inbound alightings and outbound boardings. This pattern is most noticeable at E John St & 15th Ave E, where the Kaiser Permanente Central Hospital is located. Route 8 is likely serving as a feeder route for Link along this section.
• The stops along Madison St in Madison Valley observe a similar pattern to the stops along E John St and E Thomas St.
• Ridership is quite low south of Madison Valley on Martin Luther King Jr Way. Most stops see very few riders board or alight. Stops at arterial cross streets have slightly more riders, likely due to the proximity of higher density housing and shops along the arterial streets (Union St and Cherry St).
• Route 8 makes a detour from MLK Way to 23rd Ave between Yesler Way and Jackson St. This detour allows Route 8 to serve the core Judkins Park commercial area and provides convenient transfers to routes 4, 8, 14, and 48. The two stops along 23rd Ave have higher ridership than the adjacent stops on MLK Way.
• The southern-most stops on MLK Way (Jackson St, Dearborn St, Massachusetts St, Hill St/ Walker St, Bayview St) have very little ridership. The area surrounding these stops is mostly consists of single family homes or townhouses, with a few small apartment buildings. This area is served by other routes that offer a more direct connection to most destinations. Riders traveling to downtown Seattle may opt to use routes 4, 7, or 14 instead. Riders traveling to University of Washington will use Route 48. Riders traveling to First Hill or Seattle Center may use Route 4. Route 8 is only the fastest option for getting to Capitol Hill and South Lake Union.
• Despite the direct connection between the southern-most stops on MLK Way and Link at Mount Baker, there are negligible inbound boardings. Most riders who board Route 8 along this segment board an outbound bus traveling north.
• Route 8's southern terminus is at the Mount Baker Transit Center. Passengers can transfer to routes 7, 14, 9, 48, 106, and the Link 1 Line. These transfers likely drive most of the ridership seen at this stop.

Daily Totals per Stop

The average daily total boarding and alighting counts show a similar pattern to the per trip data. Most Route 8 riders are traveling between South Lake Union and Capitol Hill.

Average Route 8 Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: March 2023 to March 2024. Inbound" is toward Mount Baker; Outbound" is toward Uptown. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.Looking Ahead

In early 2025, Route 8 will be impacted by the Seattle Department of Transportation's (SDOT) Denny Way Paving Project. Despite the construction impact, the project does little to improve Route 8's infamous reliability along Denny Way. The only Route 8 improvement noted by SDOT is Bus stop consolidation to improve transit travel time and reliability". As noted by Ryan Packer in The Urbanist, this project is a missed opportunity for meaningful improvements on Denny Way. Significant improvements for this corridor may be implemented within the next 8 years, as the recently passed 2024 Seattle Transportation Levy (Page 7) references transit improvements for Denny Way. When full Link 2 Line opens in late 2025, Route 8 will be rerouted to serve Judkins Park Station. The planned reroute will extend the Judkins Park detour further south to Massachusetts St. Full details of this restructure have been outlined by Mike Orr in a previous post on the Blog.