Sound Transit, King County Metro to reduce services as ridership plummets
Sound Transit and King County Metro announced they will temporarily reduce service on buses, light rail and Sounder commuter trains in the wake of drastically reduced ridership due to COVID-19.
King County Metro, which operates countywide bus services, said in a statement Wednesday that ridership was down 45 percent – or 185,000 passengers – on March 12 compared to the year before. As of the beginning of the week, ridership was down approximately 69 percent in March compared to February across Sound Transit’s total system, which includes light rail, Sounder commuter rail and express buses, according to a Thursday news release.
More specifically, light rail ridership was down 69 percent, express bus ridership was down 70 percent and Sounder ridership was down 72 percent, spokesperson John Gallagher said.
"The changes that we are implementing respond to our dramatically reduced ridership while still preserving reliable service and maintaining ample flexibility for social distancing by riders," Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff said in the statement.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2020/03/19/sound-transit-king-county-metro-to-reduce-services.html?ana=e_me_set1&j=90500843&t=Morning&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWmpJMU1XTTRNemRpTm1VeSIsInQiOiJSeFB3WlRmSUZ4S3VGS0J1SnMrVTczNVhHOFZiaFE3VGM0Z0dlQk9aMHFKcXhoQnVFVmw4bURGVnN1OVFPS3hWdCtRNk04TEFka2FaVEhnQVBvQm5EbG82cVYyTTZyd2I3MFZoc2ROejdpbjdvbGt0UGlvYXJSelloMzcraGp3biJ9