King County Metro’s Route 36 travels inbound from Othello Station to downtown Seattle, primarily through Beacon Hill and the International District. Outbound trips travel in the reverse direction. Between Massachusetts St and the Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge in North Beacon Hill, inbound trips serve stops along 12th Ave while outbound trips stop along 14th Ave. In October 2024, Route 36 had 7,059 average weekday boardings.
Average Ridership Per Trip
The plots below show the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. For a more detailed breakdown of how the plots are set up, please refer to the How to Read the Plots section of the article discussing Route 70.
The overall ridership patterns for Route 36 show a route that is primarily used to travel between Beacon Hill and downtown Seattle, while also operating as a feeder route to Link at the Beacon Hill Station. Some Observations:
- The southern terminus of Route 36 has decent ridership. The surrounding area has several large apartment buildings, dozens of shops and restaurants, a Safeway grocery store, and the Othello Link Station. Stops in this area also serve routes 50 and 106.
- Only a few riders use Route 36 to get between the single family homes near Myrtle St and Holly St and Othello Station. Most riders from this area travel north on Route 36. For passengers heading to Beacon Hill Station or further north, taking Route 36 to Beacon Hill Station is faster than taking Route 36 to Othello Station and transferring to a northbound Link train.
- Outbound morning trips see a slight spike in departures at Myrtle St & Beacon Ave. This is likely from Mercer Middle School students as the school has been temporarily located at the Van Asselt Interim Site since August 2023. Passengers can transfer here to Route 107.
- On Beacon Ave between Myrtle St and Dawson St, inbound trips primarily pick up passengers. More passengers board in the morning than at any other time of day. Midday trips see about half as many passengers as morning trips. For outbound trips, passengers primarily alight at these stops. Afternoon trips drop off more passengers than trips at other times, followed by evening and midday trips.
- The stop at Beacon Ave & Columbian Way serves a small commercial area with a few restaurants and shops, and provides transfers to Route 50. Inbound trips still primarily see passengers board here, but more passengers board midday than in the morning. Outbound trips have more passengers departing than boarding, mostly in the midday, afternoon, and evening. The higher midday use of this stop compared to the stops further south suggest this area is a destination for local trips. Due to Route 50’s lower ridership and nearby connections to Link (at Columbia City and SODO), it is unlikely that a lot of passengers transfer between the two routes.
- Just one stop north, the Veterans Administration Hospital (VA) stop has a different ridership pattern. Inbound morning trips see some passengers alight while midday and afternoon trips see more passengers board. Outbound trips drop off most passengers in the morning or midday, and have a few passengers board in the afternoon. The spike in departures for outbound morning trips is likely due to VA employees who transferred from Link at Beacon Hill Station.
- The two stops between Jefferson Park and the golf course (Beacon Ave & Jefferson Golf Course and Beacon Ave & Jefferson Community Center) have minimal ridership.
- North of Jefferson Park, the three stops immediately south of Beacon Hill Station follow the same pattern as stops south of Columbian Ave. Inbound trips see a decreasing number of passengers board at each stop further north. Outbound trips see the same pattern in the opposite direction with more passengers alighting at stops further south (Spokane St). The lower ridership at stops closer to the Beacon Hill Link Station may be due to potential riders choosing to walk to the station instead of waiting for a Route 36 bus.
- At Beacon Ave & Lander St, Route 36 stops right outside Beacon Hill Station on the Link 1 Line. On inbound trips, about 30% of passengers on the bus alight at this stop. Slightly fewer passengers board inbound trips at this stop. Outbound trips see a similar pattern in reverse with some passengers alighting and more passengers boarding. This stop also serves a few apartment buildings, numerous restaurants and shops, a grocery store, and routes 60 and 107.
- At Beacon Ave & 15th St (inbound)/ Bayview St (outbound), Route 36 trips see strong inbound boardings and outbound departures throughout the day. This stop is adjacent to the north end of the commercial area and a few apartment buildings.
- Along 14th Ave and 12th Ave (inbound trips north of Massachusetts St) between Beacon Ave and Golf St, most stops have some passengers board inbound morning trips. Outbound trips have some passengers alight at each stop with significantly more passengers alighting at 14th Ave & Massachusetts St. This stop is adjacent to a high rise apartment building and numerous mid-rise apartment buildings. The lack of a corresponding boarding spike for inbound trips at this stop is likely the result of inbound trips serving additional stops on Massachusetts St and 12th Ave. Route 60 also serves all stops along this segment.
- Similar to Route 7, Route 36 has significant ridership along Jackson St. As service along Jackson St and 3rd Ave is mirrored by routes 7 and 14, most riders along these segments may be just taking the first bus to arrive, rather than specifically waiting for Route 36.
Daily Totals per Stop
The average daily total boarding and alighting counts show a similar pattern to the per trip data. The unparalleled spike in outbound trip departures at S Myrtle St & 39th Ave S is because the corresponding inbound trip boardings are split between the stops at Martin L King Jr Way S & S Myrtle St and S Othello St & Martin L King Jr Way S.
Looking Ahead
The Seattle Department of Transportation is in the construction stage of the Beacon Ave S & 15th Ave S Safety Project’s North Segment. This project will add protected bike lanes on 15th Ave and Beacon Ave between the Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge and S Spokane St (just north of Jefferson Park). This project also includes sidewalk improvements, 62 new or rebuilt curb ramps, and new bus stop islands on Beacon Ave at Hanford St and Lander St (outside the Beacon Hill Link Station). While Route 36 is not directly improved by this project, the safer pedestrian environment may encourage more ridership and fewer cars on the road may improve Route 36’s speed and reliability.
In June 2024, King County Metro released the RapidRide Prioritization Plan. This document identifies Corridor 1064B (Route 36) as a Tier 1 priority corridor, along with corridor 1049 (Route 150). The Tier 1 corridors will receive RapidRide upgrades following the completion of the RapidRide lines currently in development (I, J, K, R). As the last of these four routes (RapidRide R) is expected to be completed in 2031, Route 36 will likely see RapidRide upgrades in the early to mid 2030s.
As routes go, this one overall seems reasonable and solid. While Beacon Ave has some overall issues with its design as a wide boulevard (but not wide enough to work as two one-way streets) with a median that is in terrible shape along with several parking areas in the middle, the route itself seems reasonable.
I guess that means the SDOT will come along will come along and mess it up soon. They seem to enjoy taking streets in SE that have few problems and making things worse.
Beacon Ave S in front of Beacon Hill Station has gone from stop signs and a chicken lane, to lighted crossings on each end, with a concrete median in the middle, to removing the raised median and setting out orange cones to not use the chicken lane. I saw no evidence of outreach to pedestrians before each anti-pedestrian-safety treatment.
The primary problem with the southbound stop in front of the Red Apple parking lot is that there is only room for one bus. Three routes (36, 60, and 107) serve the stop. Quite often, two arrive together. The second bus has to wait behind the traffic light, blocking traffic, often through an extra cycle.
Moving the southbound stop further south to make room for two buses would help move buses faster, and help move traffic faster.
As for pedestrians, we would be better off with lighted crosswalks we can activate by the push of a button, similar to the lighted crosswalk in front of the library one block south. Add a mid-block crossing with flashing lights and ADA curbcuts, and fewer buses would pull away before the passengers hurrying out of the station to catch that bus can cross the street.
The cherry on top would be real-time arrival signs. The Red Apple ought to lobby for these, as it would mean more customers doing some quick shopping without risking missing their bus.
There is still the problem that only one elevator (of four) can be called at a time for arriving passengers on the station platform level. One elevator is plenty waiting at the street level. One elevator is rarely enough at the platform level when the alighting crowds arrive. It can take several minutes to exit the station. But that is an ST problem, not a Seattle Dept of Transportation problem.
SDoT should make it a policy to post notices of potential changes at bus stops where street changes are being proposed. I have had several of my frequent bus stops made worse because, as far as I can tell, only the neighborhood association was consulted.
To be clear, the lighted crosswalks I am referring to in the first paragraph above are stop lights, and the accompanying beg buttons and having to wait. This is one case where stop lights create more hazard than they prevent.
Sorry for any confusion.
yes, short stops delay service. See G Line, Roosevelt Way NE, NE 65th Street.
At the south end of the route, I feel like whichever bus goes east/west from Beacon to MLK should also continue to at least Rainier, rather rather than splitting the corridor at MLK between two bus routes. Having the 36 end at MLK feels like penny pinching.
My guess is it is a matter or turning around and laying over. Otherwise, if they were pinching pennies, they would have the 36 and 50 layover at Rainier Avenue & Othello Street. I just don’t think they can.
Trolley wire. I don’t think it is there between MLK and Rainier on Othello.
If that is the case it is yet another example of how the buses should run off wire for a ways. It is not very far. But it may be the combination. No one has spent the time looking for a layover combined with the fact that no one has considered it due to the old-fashioned view of the trolleys (that they need to run on wire 100% of the time).
Is there an issue having Route 36 wires cross the Link wires? That could be a factor.
I have suggested in earlier Route 7 discussion posts that adding wire to connect to Rainier could enable Route 36 service extended to serve the Prentice loop — freeing Route 7 buses to end at Rainier Beach Link.
Looking at the map, route 36 already crosses the Link wires. Otherwise, it couldn’t get to the MLK/Othello bus stop, which is on the northbound side of the street.
If layover space is an issue, your idea is one solution. Or, the bus could use the turnaround loop of the route 7 trips that don’t do the Prentice street loop. Yet another option is to extend the 36 another mile past Rainier to Seward Park, replacing route 50 service there, which would end at Seward Park (an idea that becomes a lot more practical with the trolleybuses’ new off wire capabilities).
Route 36 doesn’t currently cross Link in Othello. The layover spot is on Myrtle near 39th so outbound busses turn left onto 38th to get there. Inbound busses turn right from Myrtle to MLK then right again to Othello.
I think a Route 36 extension to Rainier Beach would be quite popular. Crossing the Link wire should be possible as trolleybus wires and streetcar wires interact in existing intersections (Boren/Yesler). That said, Link’s pantographs may operate differently than the streetcar’s pantographs. Or they could just run this extension on battery and recharge during the layover in Rainier Beach.
Going to Rainier Beach would work (we know there is layover space there) but it would be considerably longer then just going to Othello & Rainier.
Route 36 (the short variation) used to terminate at Dawson Street. The long version went all the way south to the U to Henderson Street. Then the southern part was reassigned to another route (now the 107) and the northern part (now the 36) must have been extended to Beacon & Myrtle. With Link the 36 was extended to Othello Station. This was seen as a significant win at the time. I don’t recall any talk to extend it to Rainier.
My friend’s family owns an auto parts store at Rainier & Othello; he used to take the 106/107 when it ran on Othello. He called the store his “private P&R”. Then with Link service was withdrawn on Othello between Rainier and MLK, and he wasn’t happy about that. A 36 extension could address that, but I haven’t heard of that concept until now.
The 36 is a great example of how a relatively ordinary part of the city can have very effective transit with frequent service and a good network. Unlike the 70 — which serves the very high density areas of the UW and South Lake Union — the only really dense area this bus serves is downtown (like plenty of other buses). But much of Beacon Hill is reasonably dense — dense enough to get ridership that is quite good, as long as the bus is frequent and is part of a good network. The connections to Link and other buses are key. That is where you see the big surges in ridership. But you also see plenty of riders at numerous stops along the way — enough to add up to plenty of riders and make it one of the more productive routes in our system.
Right, it’s a Chicago-like route that gets Chicago-like ridership.
Beacon Avenue South is an example of a de facto lineal urban village that grew up around a streetcar line.
I wish SDOT had placed the bike corridor on a parallel set of streets; but that is baked. There will be friction between transit riders and cyclists at the bus-bike humps.
Layovers have several requirements: curb space, comfort station, turnaround loop. Route length is also an issue. Networks are constrained; today, operators are first constraint; others are hours, buses, trolley overhead, battery life, pavement strength. When Route 36 was first extended to othello station, it tore up the turnaround street pavement.