Seattle-area light rail ridership hits No. 1 in U.S.
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Seattle-area light rail carried more riders in April than any other light rail system in the U.S., according to federal data.
The big picture: The jump in ridership follows Sound Transit opening a long-awaited light rail connection between Seattle and Bellevue in late March.
By the numbers: In April, light rail and streetcar ridership totaled 4.8 million trips across the Seattle area — a monthly record for the region, according to data reported to the Federal Transit Administration.
- That means Seattle's light rail system got more use in April than networks that serve larger cities, such as Los Angeles and San Diego.
Yes, but: Seattle's No. 1 ranking only applies when comparing light rail systems.
- Cities like New York, Washington, D.C. and Boston, whose subway systems also use heavy rail, still far outpaced Seattle's light rail system in terms of overall ridership in April.
- When counting all types of rail, including Sounder commuter rail, Seattle's system had the eighth-highest ridership among urbanized areas.
Sound Transit also cautions that the data from March and April is preliminary.
- Because the region's light rail system underwent major shifts around that time, adjusted numbers posted later this year "may change more than in the past," Sound Transit spokesperson Henry Bendon told Axios.
Still, it's clear Seattle-area ridership saw a "huge" increase after new stations opened, Bendon said.
- Sound Transit estimates its average daily ridership was 155,000 in April and May, compared with 122,600 in February and around 107,000 in April 2025.
What they're saying: Seattle's light rail system "carries a surprisingly high number of people" for its size and age, says Yonah Freemark, who researches transit at the Urban Institute.
- "Compared to systems in Los Angeles [and] in San Diego, it's decades younger," Freemark wrote in an email, after posting on social media about the Seattle numbers last week.
- "And it's a shorter system — it only has about 63 miles of service, compared to more than 100 in Los Angeles. So that means it's attracting more people despite not being as extensive."
What we're watching: Further expansion of the Sound Transit system is underway — although some projects have been delayed to help resolve an agency budget shortfall.
Go deeper: How Sound Transit 3 light rail timelines have slipped since 2016