Seattle Scores Record Transit Ridership
Fans dressed in red, white, and blue exit a train at International District/Chinatown station on Friday. (Sound Transit)On Friday, Sound Transit and King County Metro carried over 500,000 passengers on trains, buses, and boats throughout Puget Sound. Both Link and the King County Water Taxi set a new one-day ridership records of 280,000 and 9,483 boardings, respectively.
Friday was a busy day in Seattle. Communities around the City hosted Juneteenth celebrations. The USA vs Australia World Cup match drew crowds in Pioneer Square, at the Waterfront, and at the various other Fan Celebrations. In the evening, the Seattle Mariners played the Boston Red Sox.
Sound TransitSound Transit's Link light rail system has been on a ridership tear in 2026. In February, the Super Bowl victory parade led to a Link ridership record of 214,600 boardings in one day. The following month, transit enthusiasts waited in line for hours to help set a new record of 219,200 boardings on the Crosslake Connection opening day. Last week, Seattle's first World Cup match between Egypt vs. Belgium saw the then-3rd highest ridership day with an estimated 210,000 boardings.
On Thursday, Link supported an estimated 236,000 trips. While there were no World Cup matches on Thursday, many Seattleites used Link to get to work, many tourists used Link while visiting Seattle for the USA vs Australia match, and many baseball fans used Link to get to the Mariners game. Link set yet another ridership record on Friday with an estimated 280,000 boardings.
Link ridership by day in 2026. (Sound Transit)The Crosslake Connection was not just a big hit on opening day. The following month, Link ridership jumped 46%. This ridership surge pushed Link past light rail systems in Los Angeles, Boston, and San Diego to become the busiest light rail system in the United States.While more people are using Link than ever before, the future of the system is looking less bright. In May, the Sound Transit board grappled with a projected $34B deficit by voting to defer a few ST3 projects, including the Ballard Link Extension between Seattle Center and Ballard.
King County MetroKing County Metro routes were busy on Friday. Fixed route buses had 286,606 passengers. This is slightly lower than earlier in the week, likely due to fewer commute trips. The West Seattle Water Taxi route set a new ridership record with 8,552 boardings, beating the previous record from 2018. On the Vashon Island route, 931 passengers enjoyed the quick trip. The Vashon Island route ridership record is 994, set during the Super Bowl parade in February.
Every other King County Metro service saw strong ridership as well:
- Match Day Shuttle: 4,960 boardings
- Waterfront Shuttle: 1,565 boardings
- DART bus service: 4,051 boardings
- Metro Flex: 977 boardings
- Access paratransit: 2,252 boardings
- Seattle Streetcar: 6,717 boardings
- First Hill: 5,234 boardings
- South Lake Union: 1,483 boardings
On top of the record transit ridership, shared bikes and scooters also set a new one-day record. Seattle's primary shared mobility provider, Lime, recorded 83,600 trips on Friday. This crushed the previous record of 59,300 trips set during the Super Bowl Parade.
Seattle is hosting four more World Cup matches over the next few weeks. Link will be busy each match day, but only time will tell if one of those days will set more ridership records.