Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 60

Route 60 travels inbound from Westwood Village to Capitol Hill via White Center, South Park, Georgetown, Beacon Hill, the International District, and First Hill. Outbound trips travel in the reverse direction. In November 2025, Route 60 had 5,976 average weekday boardings.

Route 60 Map (King County Metro)

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 60 Trip: September 2024 to March 2025. Inbound" is toward Capitol Hill; Outbound" is toward Westwood Village. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.

Route 60 provides essential crosstown service, operates as a last-mile connection to Link, and stops near numerous schools and hospitals. Some observations:

• Route 60's terminus at Westwood Village connects it with several important trip generators and other transit routes. The mall has a grocery store, Post Office, and an array of other stores and restaurants. Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School are two blocks north of the stop. Route 60 is used by students from White Center and South Park, shown by the morning boardings on outbound trips along Roxbury St and Cloverdale St. Passengers can transfer to Metro routes 21, 22, 125, C Line, H Line, and Sound Transit Route 560.
• In White Center, Route 60 has strong ridership in the mid-day, afternoon, and evening. Unsurprisingly, most passengers are boarding inbound trips and alighting outbound trips.
• The route's stops on Cloverdale St in South Park have decent ridership all day. South Park is severely underserved with the half-hourly Route 132 being the only other Metro route in the neighborhood.
• After crossing the Duwamish Waterway, Route 60 passes several Boeing facilities and South Seattle Community College's Georgetown Campus. Neither are significant trip generators for Route 60. Route 124 also serves this segment.
• Route 60's stop at 13th Ave & S Bailey St has some ridership throughout the day. This is closest stop to the bars and restaurants along Airport Way in Georgetown.
• On the east side of I-5, Route 60 stops outside of Cleveland High School at 15th Ave S & S Lucile St. This stop is heavily used by students traveling to and from areas north of the school. The rest of the stops along 15th Ave follow a commute pattern with most passengers boarding inbound trips in the morning and returning on outbound trips in the afternoon. The stop at Oregon St is a slight exception as it has some mid-day ridership, likely due to the small commercial area around the stop. Mercer Middle School is located near the Oregon St stop, but it was under construction when these data were collected. Route 60 shares this segment with Route 107, and intersects with Route 50 at S Dakota St.
• Beacon Hill station (Beacon Ave S & S Lander St) is the busiest stop on the route. While the stop is busy all day, its ridership is highest in the morning for inbound trips and in the afternoon for outbound trips. This suggests two different ridership patterns. Morning trips to Capitol Hill drop off many passengers from South Park, Georgetown, and Beacon Hill at the station, and pick up many passengers going to First Hill and Capitol Hill. Someone boarding Route 60 at Beacon Hill could be traveling from south King County to one of the hospitals in First Hill. The reverse pattern is seen for outbound trips in the afternoon.
• Route 60 overlaps with Route 36 between Beacon Hill station and 12th Ave & Jackson St. Along this segment, trips in both directions primarily have passengers board in the morning and alight in the afternoon. Some passengers use Route 60 as a last-mile connect to Link, while others use it to get to First Hill and Capitol Hill.
• Between the International District and Capitol Hill, nearly every Route 60 stop is busy all day. Inbound morning trips have a significant number of passengers alighting at Harborview Medical Center (9th & Alder). The spike in morning ridership on outbound trips between Capitol Hill station and First Hill, show the route's role as a last-mile connection to Link.

Daily Totals per Stop

The average daily total boarding and alighting counts show a similar pattern to the per trip data. The distributed ridership highlights the many destinations connected by Route 60.

Average Route 60 Weekday Boarding and Alighting Counts: September 2024 to March 2025. Inbound" is toward Capitol Hill; Outbound" is toward Westwood Village. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.Looking Ahead

King County Metro is working with the Seattle Department of Transportation to identify improvements to make Route 60 more reliable and speed up Route 60 by 10-15% during busy commute hours. Wesley Lin walked through the possible enhancements in an article on Tuesday. Metro's survey is open until February 20, 2026.

This article is part of the Ridership Patterns series. Click here for an index of previously covered routes.