Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 7

King County Metro's Route 7 travels inbound from Rainier Beach to downtown Seattle, primarily through Rainier Valley and the International District. Outbound trips travel south from downtown to Rainier Beach. In August 2024, Route 7 was the second busiest bus route in King County with 10,599 average weekday boardings.

Before diving into the ridership data, it's important to note the asymmetric routing of inbound and outbound trips. All inbound trips follow the same route (View Map). The trip starts on Henderson St east of Rainier and follows a clockwise loop back to the Rainier Ave/Henderson St intersection via Seward Park Ave and Rainier Ave. It then continues north on Rainier Ave to the rest of the route.

Outbound trips have two variations. As Route 7 approaches Henderson St from the north on Rainier Ave, about two thirds of trips turn left from Rainier Ave onto Henderson St and layover on Henderson St (View Map). The rest of the outbound trips continue on Rainier Ave to 57th Ave and loop via Prentice St (View Map). These trips then travel north back up to Henderson St to layover. Riders traveling inbound will need to transfer to one of the northbound stops on Rainier Ave between Seward Park Ave and Henderson St. All stops on the Prentice St loop are considered part of the outbound trip. In the outbound chart below, the bus is traveling south until the S Prentice St & 64th Ave S stop. It then travels north until S Henderson St & Rainier Ave S. The stop at S Henderson St & Rainier Ave S is served by all outbound trips, hence why its ridership data does not match the ridership data of the stops on the Prentice St loop.

When these data were recorded in 2023, some trips on Route 7 and Route 49 are through-run downtown. This results in the outbound stop at Pine St & 9th Ave showing more than 5 riders per trip despite minimal boardings. These riders are continuing from Route 49. The through-running service pattern was discontinued in September 2024.

Average Ridership Per Trip

The plots below shows 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 7 Trip: March 2023 to March 2024. Inbound" is toward Downtown; Outbound" is toward Rainier Beach. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

The overall ridership pattern shows a route that is primarily used to travel between Rainier Valley and downtown Seattle throughout the day, with some local trips within Rainier Valley.

• There is weak ridership along the Prentice St loop. This section has ~30 minute frequencies and requires a transfer for inbound trips. The south-most section of the Prentice St loop is adjacent to Route 106. Ridership data from Route 106 show insignificant ridership, excluding inbound morning and outbound midday trips. For Route 106 inbound morning trips, the stops at Renton Ave & Ryan St, Prentice St, and Bangor St cumulatively average 2 boardings. The outbound midday trips for those same stops cumulatively average 2.2 alightings. Due to the low ridership volumes for Route 7's Prentice St loop and for Route 106 at the adjacent stops, it is not clear if Route 106 is poaching riders from Route 7, or vice versa.
• The inbound stop near the Rainier Beach Library at Rainier Ave & Fisher Pl allows direct transfers from inbound routes 106 and 107. The spike in inbound boardings suggest a fair number of transfers at this stop. Outbound transfers occur at S Henderson St.
• Transfers to and from Route 50 at Othello St and Alaska St are not significant. This is likely due to the low ridership of Route 50, and Route 50's nearby Link transfers at the Othello and Columbia City stations.
• Just north of Columbia City, Route 7 sees strong ridership from the stops at Rainier Ave & Andover St and Rainier Ave & 33rd Ave (inbound)/ Letitia Ave (outbound). This increase in ridership provides some insight into the impact of Link on Route 7. These stops serve several apartment buildings, Safeway, a shopping center, and south Mount Baker. Unlike many of the other higher-density developments along Rainier Ave, this area is not located within a 15 minute walk of a Link Station, nor is it served by any other bus routes. This suggests some potential Route 7 riders in areas such as Columbia City and Rainier Beach are using Link instead.
• The significant number of passengers alighting at Mount Baker Blvd in the inbound morning are primarily Franklin High School students. Anecdotally, there are a few trips each morning that have ~20 students per vehicle.
• Mount Baker Transit Center is a significant trip generator for riders traveling to or from Rainier Valley. While there are some commercial and residential destinations near the transit center, most passengers are likely transferring to/from routes 8, 14, 48, 106, or the Link 1 Line.
• Between I-90 and Dearborn St, the S Charles St stop generates a little ridership churn, suggesting few riders are transferring to/from Sound Transit's Route 554 to travel to destinations on the Eastside. As riders going to Bellevue will need to make an additional transfer from Route 554 to Route 550 on Mercer Island, the low ridership is not surprising.
• To quote Bruce Nourish's 2011 Blog post on Route 7 ridership, there is Blockbuster demand on Jackson St". This is still true 13 years and one streetcar line later. The number of passengers boarding and alighting dwarf all other Route 7 stops, except Mount Baker Transit Center.

Daily Totals per Stop

The average daily total boarding and alighting counts show a similar pattern to the per trip data. The unparalleled spike in departures for outbound trips at S Henderson St & Rainier Ave is due to the small loop inbound trips take through Rainier Beach (View Map). Riders who board an inbound trip along this loop at Henderson St & 53rd Ave (Rainier Beach High School), Seward Park Ave & Fischer Pl (Lake Washington Apartments), Rainier Ave & Seward Park Ave (Rainier Beach commercial area), Rainier Ave & 52nd Ave (Safeway), Rainier Ave & Fischer Pl (Rainier Beach Library), or Rainier Ave & Henderson St (Rainier Beach Community Center) will all depart the outbound trip at S Henderson St & Rainier Ave, unless the trip continues to the Prentice St loop.

Average Route 7 Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: March 2023 to March 2024. Inbound" is toward Downtown; Outbound" is toward Rainier Beach. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.Looking Ahead

Several improvements are coming to Route 7 over the next few years. The Seattle Department of Transportation is installing Phase 2 of the Rainier Ave northbound bus lane. This project will extend the existing northbound bus lane on Rainier Ave from just south of the Mount Baker Transit Center at S Walden St to just south of Judkins Park Station at S State St. This bus lane extension will provide a more reliable connection between Rainier Valley and Judkins Park Station. When Judkins Park Station opens in 2025, Route 7's ridership patterns will likely change as riders will transfer to the Link 2 Line for trips from Rainier Valley to destinations on the Eastside. Additionally, King County Metro will resume work on RapidRide R in 2025 and expects RapidRide R to replace Route 7 in 2031. Based on the current plans, RapidRide R will remove both the inbound loop on Rainier Ave and the outbound Prentice St loop. Instead, it will terminate at Rainier Beach Station.