Metro posts double-digit ridership increases during I-5 construction

As the big Interstate 5 construction project draws to a close in Seattle, Metro Transit is reporting record ridership on buses, vanpools, and the King County Water Taxi during August.

"Over the past two weeks, ridership on all of the services Metro provides increased by about 1,000 passengers each morning," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "We're glad people turned to public transportation, and hope our new passengers will continue to use transit as one of their commute options in the future."

Ridership increases on Metro buses hovered in the 10-12 percent range each weekday morning, when compared to typical August passenger loads. The Water Taxi passenger counts seesawed a bit, but still averaged close to an extra 300 riders from West Seattle each morning between 6-9 a.m. And, Metro's Rideshare program exceeded all expectations by starting up 48 new county-sponsored vanpools and vanshares during August, more than double the number for an average month.

Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond said Metro's pre-planning and daily adjustments kept buses and passengers moving during the I-5 project. More than 130 individual northbound morning bus trips were detoured off I-5 for the two-week construction period and onto alternative routes. Metro staff monitored passenger volumes and bus travel times in many locations, ready to respond with standby buses when needed. And, transit supervisors worked with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the city of Seattle to adjust signal timing to keep all traffic flowing on the detour routes.

But, county officials say the key factor that kept the region moving during the past two weeks was the individual actions taken by thousands of local commuters each day.

"Increased use of public transportation during this construction project made a huge difference for the entire region," said King County Department of Transportation Director Harold Taniguchi. "Local residents' individual decisions to leave their cars at home and ride the bus, train, water taxi, or vanpool were a big part of why we avoided most of the predicted congestion. Those decisions to take action spared us from gridlock and our own worst nightmare."