Metro Transit will close out 2014 with an all-time high in the number of bus trips taken in King County. In the days just before Christmas, Metro expects to break the annual record for most rides taken in its 41-year history.

Preliminary data show Metro’s annual ridership will be about 2 percent higher compared to 2013, according to a King County media release. That’s more than 120 million rides — or an average of nearly 400,000 trips each weekday. Metro is the ninth-largest transit agency in the United States for ridership.

“Our work in recent years to increase efficiency and productivity is helping to move more people than ever before,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “The transit measure approved by Seattle voters last month will help keep pace with increasing demand within the city, but sustainable, long-term funding is needed to satisfy the growing unmet need for reliable public transportation throughout our county and region.”

King County’s strengthening economy and the success of Metro’s six RapidRide routes contributed to the record-setting year. Metro’s effort in recent years to make its operations more efficient has also allowed it to deliver more service with existing resources. Metro is also seeing the benefit of increased service integration and joint planning with Sound Transit, which Executive Constantine—who is also Chair of Sound Transit’s Board of Directors—called for in June.

RapidRide continues to exceed expectations and provides more frequent all-day service along King County’s most-popular corridors and pay-before-you-board ORCA card readers. It’s A, B, C, D, E, and F lines have seen a combined 44 percent increase in ridership compared to the routes they replaced. That represents 14 percent of Metro’s entire annual ridership.

The A Line, operating along Pacific Highway South/International Boulevard, including in Kent, is once again leading the way with an 82 percent increase since being launched in 2010. Ridership on the C Line between West Seattle and downtown is up 75 percent.

“With the first RapidRide launch in 2010, we knew more frequent all-day service, new buses and improved stations would prove to be a winning combination,” said Metro general manager Kevin Desmond. “Now our riders are reaping the full benefits of that investment as six of the county’s busiest transit corridors break ridership records with each passing month.

These ridership trends are reflected in a new quarterly report Metro is launching to keep the public up to date on how it is performing on a variety of fronts. These quarterly performance reports will help riders keep tabs on service trends and better track what Metro is doing to improve even more. You may sign up to receive notifications like this from Metro Transit via email or text message.