Swift Green Line is matching early Blue Line ridership stats

It’s been said that the Swift Green Line will transform public transportation in Snohomish County. Well, it’s been three days… has it yet?

Very preliminary ridership numbers are in for the first three days of Swift Green Line service. After a surprisingly high half-day’s ridership on Sunday, boardings took a big leap forward to start the week. After that, they dipped slightly.

"Swift Corner," where Swift Blue and Green lines connect.

Bus counters show that the first three days of Swift Green Line service saw 1,218, 1,818 and 1,718 riders from Sunday through Tuesday (what’s with the 18s?). 

Sunday’s numbers were high for a half-day of service as many people attending the grand opening celebration boarded at the Dumas stations near McCollum Park to test out the new Green Line.

With about 1,800 boardings each of the first two weekdays, Swift Green Line ridership is matching the pace of Blue Line’s first week of service in late 2009. Blue Line ridership doubled in its first year as people learned how quick and easy it was to commute on a Swift bus.

At “Swift Corner” on Airport Road & Highway 99, where the Swift Blue and Green lines meet, many people are seen making that connection from one BRT route to the other. This morning, one woman got off a northbound Blue Line bus to connect to the northbound Green Line. She said she works at Paine Field and was ecstatic that this new connection saves her at least 10 minutes each way on her work commute.

Early statistics corroborate her journey.

The most popular destination points for the northbound Swift Green Line are Seaway Transit Center, Highway 99 and 100^th Street (by Paine Field).

The most popular southbound destination points are Canyon Park PR, 4^th Avenue (by Mariner PR) and Highway 99.

Word is just getting out about the Swift Green Line. So far, the numbers look good and the reviews are positive. Have you tried the Swift Green Line yet? What’s your experience?