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 include heavy rail, still far outpaced Seattle's light rail system in terms of overall ridership in April.
• When counting all types of rail, including heavy and 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.

Still, it's clear Seattle-area ridership saw a "huge" increase after new stations opened, Sound Transit spokesperson Henry Bendon told Axios.

• 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.

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Woodland Park Zoo's newest gorilla babies are thriving after an unexpected plot twist worthy of a Hollywood movie.

Driving the news: Gorilla moms Jamani and Olympia have traded babies. The zoo released photos this week of them cuddling their switched newborns.

Catch up quick: Jamani gave birth to a son on May 18. Six days later, Olympia delivered a boy via cesarean section — an extremely rare procedure for gorillas.

• When staff tried to reunite Olympia with her newborn, Jamani picked him up and began caring for both babies while Olympia recovered.
• Then came another complication.
• Olympia's baby was thriving, but Jamani's little one was struggling to nurse, according to the zoo.

He spent several days in the zoo hospital receiving round-the-clock care while he learned to nurse and regained strength.

The intrigue: When the infant was ready to return to the group, zoo staff didn't give him back to Jamani, who was already caring for Olympia's baby.

• Instead, they gave Jamani's newborn to Olympia, who took him happily.

The bottom line: As of this week, both moms are nursing successfully, both babies are gaining strength, and the unusual foster family arrangement appears to be working exactly as hoped.

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🫨 The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network will track and livestream fan-generated ground shaking during Seattle's World Cup matches.

• Seven seismometers will measure whether soccer crowds can rival the city's famous Beast Quake and Taylor Swift tremors. (FOX 13)

💵 A proposal before City Council would expand utility-bill discounts to about 31,000 additional low-income households. (Seattle Medium)

🏢 Expeditors International, a Bellevue company that long promised "no layoffs," is cutting about 230 jobs — another hit to the Seattle-area's tech workforce. (Seattle Times)

🏛️ Bill Gates met with House investigators yesterday about his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The relationship continues to raise questions inside local organizations including the Gates Foundation and TerraPower. (GeekWire)

📵 Gov. Ferguson and state Superintendent Chris Reykdal are proposing a statewide ban on K-12 students using cellphones during the school day, citing concerns about distraction. (KOMO)

We have a winner in our quest to find readers' favorite bánh mì!

Saigon Deli came out on top in the final round of voting, defeating Q Bakery in our bracket.

Between the lines: We're not surprised that Saigon Deli — a Seattle institution — won this contest.

• But we've also had a great time sampling the other restaurants readers recommended to us.
• Some of the losing spots make truly spectacular sandwiches — so it's worth challenging yourself to eat your way through the whole list.

The big picture: We're thinking of running more contests like this in the future.

• What should our next bracket focus on? Pizza? Doughnuts? Poke? Parks? Hit reply to let us know.

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Two new digital kiosks have been installed downtown, days before we're set to host our first World Cup match.

• The kiosks — which measure more than eight feet tall — provide Wi-Fi and wayfinding information, in addition to displaying ads.

One of the new interactive kiosks sits across from Pike Place Market, while the other rises at Fourth Avenue and Pine Street.

The eventual plan is to install 30 in the downtown area, plus more in other business districts.