Central Puget Sound State Route 520 - Transit ridership
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Measures of public transit ridership on the SR 520 corridor in the central Puget Sound region
Transit ridership
WSDOT works with transit agencies in major urban areas throughout the state to collect data on the number of transit vehicles and passengers that pass specific points on select urban highway corridors, including the SR 520 corridor in the central Puget Sound region. WSDOT combines this data with its highway vehicle and person throughput data to produce the measures below. For more information on how WSDOT calculates vehicle and person throughput, see WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).
The chart below shows the average percentage of buses compared to all vehicles passing select points on the SR 520 corridor in the central Puget Sound region, and the average percentage of bus riders compared to all highway users passing those points. Use the drop-down menus in the chart to see how these percentages vary by location, time of day, direction of travel and year.
Source: WSDOT Public Transportation Division.
Note: Charts showing 0.0% may indicate smaller values (for example, 0.04%).
Multi-year trends
In 2021 and 2022, there were slight increases and decreases in transit ridership compared to 2020, but transit ridership in 2021 and 2022 was still under the pre-pandemic level.
In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there was reduced demand for transit compared to previous years.
Trends that impacted delay and travel times on SR 520 between 2018 and 2019—economic growth, increased employment, rising housing prices and the new SR 520 floating bridge opening in April 2016—also impacted demand for and usage of public transportation on this corridor.
Annual highlights
In 2022, there were slight increases and decreases in transit ridership compared to the 2021 due to the ongoing recovery of traffic volume in the wake of COVID-19. However, transit ridership was still below the pre-pandemic level. In 2022, the westbound morning commute on SR 520, buses (0.9% of all vehicles) moved 1.0% of travelers. During the evening commute at the same location, buses (0.05% of all vehicles) moved 0.2% of the eastbound travelers.
In 2021, there were slight increases and decreases in transit ridership compared to the previous year, due to the recovery of traffic volume in the wake of COVID-19. However, transit ridership is still below pre-pandemic level. In 2021, the westbound morning commute on SR 520, buses (6.0% of all vehicles) moved 0.7% of travelers. During the evening commute at the same location, buses (0.05% of all vehicles) moved 0.1% of the eastbound travelers.
In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there reduced demand for transit compared to the previous year. In 2020, during the westbound morning commute on SR 520, buses (3.2% of all vehicles) moved 1.5% of travelers. During the evening commute at the same location, buses (1.3% of all vehicles) moved 0.2% of the eastbound travelers.
In 2019 during the westbound morning commute on SR 520, buses (2.1% of all vehicles) moved 41.8% of travelers. During the evening commute at the same location, buses (0.8% of all vehicles) moved 22.8% of the eastbound travelers.
Transit ridership data was not collected for 2018 due to a pause in publication while WSDOT conducted an engagement process to inform the redesign of this dashboard. Following input from its transit agency partners, WSDOT switched from commute-level transit ridership measures to analyzing transit ridership at select locations along urban highway corridors. This change helped to streamline the collaboration process.