Early Look at Federal Way Link Extension Ridership

On December 6, 2025, Sound Transit's Link extension to Federal Way (FWLE) welcomed its first passengers. This 1 Line extension added three new stations along eight miles of new track south of Angle Lake. The three new stations - Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown - are located in suburban communities between SR-99 and I-5. Each station has connections to local bus service, pickup and drop-off areas, and lots of parking. In a Board of Directors Meeting on December 18, Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine shared the three new stations had a combined 16,000 boardings on opening day.

Federal Way Downtown station on opening day

Sound Transit's ridership dashboard has been updated to include the December ridership data for the three new Link stations. While these initial data can share some insights, it is worth noting a few reasons why this data may not represent future ridership. First, the FWLE opened on December 6, so a week's worth of ridership is not measured. Second, opening day brought many more riders than usual as people wanted to check out the new stations. Third, King County Metro's South Link Connections restructure has not been implemented yet. Once these changes are implemented, more south King County residents will have a more direct bus route to a Link station. To reduce the impact of the first two anomalies, the analysis below is focused on the average weekday ridership, adjusted for the number of days the stations were open. With those caveats in mind, let's take a look at the December ridership data.

In December 2025, the Link 1 Line had about 99,000 average weekday boardings across its 26 stations. Of the three new stations, Federal Way Downtown stands out with just over 4,500 avearge weekday boardings. Kent Des Moines and Star Lake stations each had less than 1,000 average weekday boardings.

Average weekday boardings on the 1 Line by station in December 2025Kent Des Moines

Each weekday, about 994 passengers boarded a train at Kent Des Moines (KDM) station. The main trip generator near the station is Highline College. Trips to and from Highline are certainly reduced in December due to the holidays. Some passengers use Metro routes 156, 165, and the A Line as a last-mile connection to the station. Routes 156 and 165 had a small decrease month-over-month (MoM) in ridership between November and December, as is typical for most transit routes. Ridership on the A Line is discussed in more detail below.

Star Lake

Star Lake had 852 boardings each weekday, the lowest week average on the 1 Line. Given the station's poor walkshed, most Link passengers will park at the 1,100 space parking garage, use Route 183, or be dropped off/picked up. Fortunately for perspective riders, the parking garage is not full on the typical weekday. Similar to the Metro routes at KDM station, Route 183 had a slight MoM decrease in ridership.

Federal Way Downtown

As expected, Federal Way Downtown is the busiest new 1 Line station with 4,529 average weekday boardings. As Federal Way Downtown is now the southern terminus of the 1 Line, many passengers use the station's 1,600 space parking garage. Of the many bus routes that serve the station, Metro routes 181 and 182 had a slight decrease in ridership since November, as is expected. Route 187, meanwhile, had a slight increase in average weekday boardings from 418 to 422. Sound Transit has not published December ridership data for ST Express yet, but it is likely that some passengers have switched to use Link or now transfer to Link at Federal Way Downtown. Pierce Transit does not publish monthly ridership data for its routes.

Existing Stations

Angle Lake experienced a 39% drop in weekday ridership between November and December, more than any other 1 Line station. This is not too surprising as many passengers switched to use one of the new stations. SeaTac/Airport station saw a 2% MoM increase in ridership. This increase is certainly due to the new stations because the station had a 8% decrease in ridership between November and December 2024. The additional SeaTac/Airport station passengers are likely both airport employees and travelers from south King and Pierce counties.

A Line Ridership

King County Metro's A Line runs parallel to the FWLE on Pacific Highway. Like most transit routes, the A Line sees a seasonal decrease ridership towards the end of the calendar year. In 2023 and 2024, the average weekday ridership on the A Line between November and December decreased by 7.8% and 5.4%, respectively. In 2025, the route's ridership dropped by 17.8% to 7,036 average weekday boardings in December. This is the lowest average weekday boardings for the route since December 2022. Based on this early data, it looks like the new 1 Line stations are poaching at least 1,000 passengers each weekday from the A Line. If this trend continues into 2026, the A Line may lose it's title as Metro's most productive route.

Average Weekday Boardings for the A Line in October-December 2023-2025. (King County Metro)Final Thoughts

As we've seen with previous Link extensions, ridership at each of the new stations will increase over the next few months as more people adjust their travel habits. Additionally, King County Metro's South Link Connections restructure later this year will provide more direct connections to the new Link stations. Sound Transit will restructure many ST Express routes in the Fall to provide more frequent connections between Pierce County and the 1 Line.