Swift Ridership with Lynnwood Link

Community Transit operates three bus rapid transit routes under the Swift branding: Blue, Green, and Orange. These routes provide fast and frequent transit between key destinations in Snohomish County. On August 30, 2024, Sound Transit opened the Lynnwood Link Extension (LLE). The 8.5 mile light rail extension connects south Snohomish County with Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport, and more destinations in King County.

The Link 1 Line connects with the Orange Line and Blue Line. The Orange Line stops at Link's current northern terminus, Lynnwood City Center station. The Swift Blue Line was extended in September 2024 from Aurora Village Transit Center to terminate at Link's Shoreline North/185th station.

Swift Network Map

This article will take a look at the per-stop ridership for each Swift route before and after the LLE opened, specifically in August and November 2024. In October, The Urbanist reported a 14% ridership increase in across the three Swift lines. The data from November shows a more modest overall ridership increase of 6% compared to August (adjusted for the number of days each month). A lower ridership increase is not too surprising as transit ridership usually deceases in the colder months. Given the small sample size for this data and usual seasonal ridership changes, take this analysis with a grain of salt. A follow up article in the Fall will take a deeper look at the ridership data from 2024 and 2025.

The plots below show the average daily weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. Stops are listed on the left axis; passenger counts along the bottom. For each color-coded time period, the bars represent how many people got on or off the bus at each stop. Centered on zero, the right-hand bar shows boardings as positive passenger count and the left-hand bar shows de-boardings as negative passenger count. The data from August is shown above the November data and is slightly transparent.

Swift Blue Line

The Swift Blue Line opened in 2009 and travels inbound from Shoreline North/185th station to Everett Station, primarily along State Route 99 and Evergreen Way. Outbound trips travel south towards Shoreline North/185th station. Prior to September 2024, the Blue Line terminated at Aurora Village Transit Center. Passengers can transfer at Aurora Village TC to King County Metro's RapidRide E Line and various local routes. In November 2024, the Blue Line had 6,493 average weekday boardings.

Average Blue Line Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: August 2024 and November 2024. Inbound" is toward Everett Station; Outbound" is toward Shoreline North/185th station. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

The biggest ridership change on the Blue Line is due to its extension to Shoreline North/185th station. In August, an average of 1,555 passengers boarded or alighted a Blue Line trip at Aurora Village Transit Center each weekday. This total fell to 995 passengers in November. This drop in passengers is due to some passengers starting or ending their Blue Line trip at Shoreline North/185th station. In November, an average of 812 passengers boarded or alighted the Blue Line here each weekday. With the Blue Line's extension, passengers from other routes and passengers using the P&R at Aurora Village Transit Center now have a quick and frequent connection to Link. About 169 passengers used the Blue Line to travel between Aurora Village TC and Link each weekday.

The Blue Line intersects with the Orange Line at 196th St. Inbound boardings (to Everett) and outbound departures were higher in November than in August, suggesting some of the many new Orange Line riders may be transferring to the Blue Line for trips further north.

Passengers can transfer between the Blue Line and Green Line at Airport Road. While there is a slight increase in inbound departures and outbound boardings on the Blue Line at this stop, the lack of change in the Green Line data suggests this is not due to passengers transferring between the two lines.

Swift Green Line

The Swift Green Line opened in 2019 and travels inbound from Canyon Park Park & Ride to Seaway Transit Center via Mill Creek and Paine Field Airport. Outbound trips travel southeast towards Canyon Park. In November 2024, the Green Line had 2,841 average weekday boardings.

Average Green Line Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: August 2024 and November 2024. Inbound" is toward Seaway Transit Center; Outbound" is toward Canyon Park Park & Ride. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

As the Green Line does not directly connect with Link, its ridership was not significantly changed between August and November. There was a slight increase in passengers boarding or alighting at Canyon Park P&R; however, this likely unrelated to the LLE opening. Passengers using the Canyon Park P&R as overflow for Lynnwood can take Sound Transit Route 535 directly to Lynnwood City Center station.

The Green Line shares a few stops with the Orange Line in Mill Creek, 164th St, 153rd St, and Trillium Blvd. Ridership at these stops has generally increased, likely due to passengers transferring to or from the Orange Line. Orange Line ridership at these stops has also increased for trips traveling to/from Edmonds Collage and Lynnwood City Center station.

The Green Line crosses paths with the Blue Line at its Hwy 99 stop. Green Line ridership at this stop decreased between August and November.

Orange Line

The Swift Orange Line opened in March 2024 and travels inbound from Edmonds College to McCollum Park Park & Ride via Lynnwood City Center and Mill Creek. Outbound trips travel southwest towards Edmonds College. In November 2024, the Orange Line had 2,830 average weekday boardings.

Average Orange Line Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: August 2024 and November 2024. Inbound" is toward McCollum Park Park & Ride; Outbound" is toward Edmonds College. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

Of the three Swift lines, the Orange Line saw the biggest change in ridership following the LLE opening. The route's average weekday ridership jumped 32% from 2,148 boardings in August to 2,830 boardings in November. Unsurprisingly, the Lynnwood City Center stop saw the highest ridership increase. Inbound boardings and outbound alightings (passengers traveling to/from Ash Way, Mill Creek) more than doubled. This ridership increase follows a 9-5 commuter pattern as outbound trips (towards Lynnwood) saw the largest increase in the morning and inbound trips (towards Mill Creek) saw the greatest increase in the afternoon. Correspondingly, most stops east of Lynnwood saw slight ridership increases.

Ash Way P&R had a noticeable decrease in passengers traveling to/from Mill Creek. This is likely due to riders opting to stay on the Orange Line until Lynnwood City Center then transfering to Link, rather than alighting at Ash Way and transferring to a bus to get to Seattle. All bus routes between Ash Way P&R and Seattle were removed or truncated at Lynnwood City Center in September 2024, with one exception: the first inbound ST 512 trip each morning (second trip on Sundays) terminates at Northgate station.

To the west of Lynnwood City Center, the Orange Line stop at Edmonds College had a decent ridership increase, primarily for mid-day trips. Passengers can transfers to the Blue Line at the Hwy 99 stop. As mentioned above, both routes have higher ridership at this stop in November, likely due to some of the new Orange Line Riders transferring to the Blue Line for trips further north.

Conclusion

It is exciting to see an increase in Swift ridership following Link's extension into Snohomish County. As several cities in the County continue to grow, it is essential for Community Transit to provide fast and frequent all-day service between key destinations. The Swift Gold Line will expand the Swift network north of Everett in 2029, connecting more areas with the rest of the network.