Friday Roundtable: Crosslake Connection’s Impact on ST Express Ridership

Route 550 bus is passed by a 2 Line train on the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge across Lake Washington.

When Sound Transit opened the Crosslake Connection in March 2026, over 200,000 people went for a ride on the first day. Since then, the 2 Line has carried thousands of passengers between Seattle and the Eastside everyday. Many of these passengers are new transit riders who used to drive across Lake Washington, while others switched to the train from an ST Express bus. Sound Transit's decision to wait until August to restructure its bus network gives us an opportunity to examine the Crosslake Connection's impact on ST Express ridership.

The agency has not yet published Link ridership data for March and April, but it has shared ridership data for its ST Express bus routes. Unless otherwise stated, the analysis below is looking at the average weekday ridership in April 2026 (percentages are compared to March 2026).

Crosslake Routes

Route 542's ridership has remained stable, just a 1% increase to 1,517 passengers. This route is significantly faster than the 2 Line (26 vs 53 minutes) between Redmond and UW, so it is unlikely that many passengers would have switched to the train. Last year, Route 542 had a nearly 18% increase in ridership between March and April.

Sound Transit's other all-day route on SR-520, Route 545, was impacted by the Crosslake Connection opening. Ridership was down 13.5% in April. Despite this, the route's 4,281 daily passengers still make it the busiest ST Express route. Route 545 saw a slight increase in ridership between March and April 2025.

As expected, Route 550's ridership has plummeted. The 2 Line covers most trips served by Route 550. In April, the route's ridership dropped 48% to 2,306 passengers. Route 550 still serves stops along Bellevue Way and near Bellevue Square Mall, making it faster than the 2 Line to some destinations in Bellevue, depending on the time of day.

Route 554's ridership dropped almost 13% in April. The route overlaps with the 2 Line between downtown Seattle and Mercer Island. Based on Fall 2025 data, passengers traveling between Mercer Island and downtown Seattle accounted for about 16% of the route's ridership. Based on this, most passengers from Mercer Island likely switched to the 2 Line for their trips to Seattle.

Month-over-month changes in ridership between March and April for 2025 and 2026 by route.Other Impacts

Sound Transit Route 515 operates between downtown Seattle and Lynnwood to help relieve crowds during peak hours. In April, its ridership dropped over 12% to 796 passengers. The additional capacity provided by the 2 Line has helped ease crowding during rush hour. Last year, the route had a 12% increase in ridership from March to April.

Route 522 had an 8% month-over-month (MoM) increase to 2,425 passengers. This is similar to the 7% increase between the same months last year. Some passengers on this route have benefited from the increased Link frequency at Roosevelt station.

Night Owl Ridership

Sound Transit's first night owl route, 570, started on March 28. In April, the route carried about 300 passengers every night. This equates to about 17 passengers per trip. This fairly strong ridership bodes well for an expanded night owl network that is anticipated to start this August.

This is an open thread.