Central Puget Sound Interstate 5 - Dashboard


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Performance indicators for the I-5 corridor in the central Puget Sound region

Indicators

This dashboard shows three multimodal performance indicators for Interstate 5 in the central Puget Sound region:

  1. Annual general purpose (GP) lane person miles traveled
  2. Annual GP vehicle delay
  3. Percentage of park and ride spaces occupied.



For details on the methodology used to calculate person miles traveled and vehicle delay, refer to WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).

Sources: WSDOT Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division and WSDOT TRACFLOW (https://tracflow.wsdot.wa.gov/)
Note: Park & Rides utilization rates data will no longer be available from 2020.

Multi-year trends

In 2022, annual GP person miles traveled and vehicle delay continued to increase, due to the ongoing recovery of traffic volume in the wake of COVID-19. However, person miles traveled and delay were still lower than the pre-pandemic levels.

In 2020, the statewide response to the COVID-19 mitigation policy, increased in telework and no large gatherings of events, resulted in reduced traffic. This significantly reduced the GP person miles traveled and vehicle delay compared to previous years.

From 2018 through 2019, the central Puget Sound region experienced substantial economic growth and increases in employment, which resulted in more commuters. During this time, rapidly increasing housing prices caused many Washingtonians in this region to move further from their workplaces to find affordable housing; many of these people commute on I-5.

Annual highlights

In 2022, annual GP person miles traveled and vehicle delay increased from 2021 due to the ongoing recovery of traffic volume in the wake of COVID-19. Nearly 2.5 billion person miles were traveled in the GP lanes on I-5 between Everett and Federal Way, 1% more than the 2.4 billion person miles in 2021. Travelers on this corridor experienced 2.9 million hours of vehicle delay in 2022, up 32% from 2.2 million hours in 2021.

In 2021, annual GP person miles traveled and vehicle delay increased from 2020, due to the recovery of traffic volume in the wake of COVID-19. Nearly 2.4 billion person miles were traveled in the GP lanes on I-5 between Everett and Federal Way, 8% more than 2.3 billion person miles in 2020. Travelers on this corridor experienced 2.2 million hours of vehicle delay in 2021, up 201% from 0.7 million hours in 2020.

In 2020, the statewide response to COVID-19 resulted in a significant reduction in GP person miles traveled and annual delay. Nearly 2.3 billion person miles were traveled in the GP lanes on I-5 between Everett and Federal Way, 15% less than 2.7 billion person miles in 2019. Travelers on this corridor experienced 737 thousands hours of vehicle delay in 2020, down 86% from 5.1 million in 2019.

In 2019, nearly 2.7 billion person miles were traveled in the GP lanes on I-5 between Everett and Federal Way, the same as in 2018. Travelers on this corridor experienced 4.6 million hours of vehicle delay in 2019, down 10% from 5.1 million in 2018. Approximately 91% of available parking spaces at Park & Ride lots along this corridor were occupied in 2019, which is the same as it was in 2018.

In 2018, nearly 2.7 billion person miles were traveled in the GP lanes on I-5 between Everett and Federal Way, the same as in 2017. Travelers on this corridor experienced 5.1 million hours of vehicle delay in 2018, the same as in 2017. Approximately 91% of parking spaces at Park & Ride lots along this corridor were occupied in 2018, down from 93% in 2017.

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