Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 50

88 Replies to “Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 50”

1. I didn’t realize the route was popular for intra-West Seattle trips. Clearly there’s a demand for trips between junctions. I wonder if a route that stays in West Seattle and travels between Admiral and Burien via California and White Center is feasible… basically a combined 120 & 128.

   If I take the 50, it’s only to travel between SODO and 1st Ave – it saves an incline walk in both directions, especially during sweaty summers. I only took it to West Seattle once by accident because I missed the last stop on 1st.

   1. I didn’t realize the route was popular for intra-West Seattle trips.

      Most buses get a mix of short and long distance riders. A bus like the RapidRide H gets about half its riders from people going downtown. The rest are making shorter trips.

      It would be great to know how many riders of the 50 are transferring and where. SoDo is probably a big transfer point. It is likely that most of those riders are using Link but some may be taking buses (e. g. Renton to Alki). Likewise it is quite possible the high ridership at The Junction is a mix of people heading there and transferring to other buses. I agree with the author — the biggest weakness of the 50 is the lack of frequency. West Seattle could use a restructure but more than anything it just needs more service.

      1. Preface: I don’t know anything about West Seattle other than I’ve visited a mere handful of times: half of it on Alki. Based on ridership data and the commercial areas on Google Maps, I see that:

         1) there’s no all-day route between Admiral Dist and downtown
         2) people are getting on/off between Admiral and Alaska junction

         Yes, it’s possible that people in Admiral are using the 50 to transfer to other buses at Alaska junction. But wouldn’t they just stay on the 50 all the way to SODO and use Light rail rather than transferring to the C? Also, there is high commercial activity at both junctions, including major grocery stores at both ends. I have a suspicion people are using the 50 (and probably the 128 as well) to simply go back/forth along California more than transferring.

      2. Jordan,

         Transferring to the C at Junction or the H/125 at Delridge is always faster than going to Link if you’re heading downtown since the C/H/125 run express via 99 while Link stops a few times in between.

      3. The C also goes to SLU, which isn’t well served by Link but is a major destination.

   2. I am going to use this as a place to share my personal gripe about intra-WS bus routes… There’s no bus that goes from 35th to the Junction! All I ask is that the 128’s snow route become its primary route (that way my kid can single-seat to high school in a couple of years).

      1. Just send your kid to Sealth :)

         OK, even that involves a ten minute walk. And Sealth is kind of in the same boat but in reverse. Other than the very infrequent 22 the buses don’t connect to California. So even after walking to 35th (or Delridge) they have to transfer to get to a lot of places in West Seattle.

         Anyway, this is a classic example of the geographic challenges that Seattle faces. It is fairly easy to go north-south. But it is hard to go east-west. As a result, you can’t make a traditional grid. Grids have a lot of advantages and one of the big ones is that they are very efficient. This means you run the buses a lot more often. But in this case that doesn’t work. The gap between east-west corridors is too large. Thus if you try and make a traditional grid you end up with double transfers (e. g. north, then west, then north again) or really long walks. One approach that Metro has taken in the past involves a sort of “weave” pattern. A bus will go north for a while, turn east for a few blocks and then continue north. Another bus will do the opposite (north, west, north). It delays riders who are just trying to get north but you avoid double transfers. Even this won’t work well for West Seattle because of streets like Sylvan. It connects Delridge and 35th but isn’t east-west. You end up with buses backtracking. In West Seattle they have the main north-south routes (C, 21, H, 125) but also overlays like the 22, 50 and 128. As a result you have quite a bit of overlap. This avoids some three-seat rides but not all of them. It also means the buses don’t run that often. As a result, the transfers — which are inevitable in any system — are much worse.

         Back to your original point, it is hard to see moving the 128 to the snow route. It seems like there is more on California, especially on the gap between Morgan and Alaska (where the 50 comes in). I think the buses could be restructured in West Seattle to be a bit more efficient but the main thing it needs is just better frequency. Transfers are inevitable. Waiting a really time to transfer shouldn’t be.

      2. @ross Yes my suggestion for the 128 is purely out of selfish self-interest, I agree that its current routing is better overall: California is significantly denser (35th is shockingly low density given the width of the street). I am always surprised that there aren’t more regular busses on Fauntleroy, given the density there, although E/W traverses on foot between Fauntleroy and California are relatively easy by West Seattle standards.

         35th is a bit of a puzzle though, it is quite geographically isolated. The near-cliff between 37th and Fauntleroy at least has 3 direct crossings (Edmunds & Findlay are in good shape, Brandon is pretty rough), but the path down to Delridge might as well have a moat with crocdiles in it… there’s no good way down!

      3. Whoops… “Path” in the proverbial sense. There is an actual foot path through Camp Long (that is limited by Camp Longs strict closing hours), but that’s not what I was referring to in the prior comment

2. 50 is my local bus and I’ve been curious to see this type of analysis so thanks.

   Some observations from using it from my home in North Admiral:

   Teenagers are definitely a big part of the ridership and not just to/from West Seattle High. My own kid rides it independently and it works well to string together a lot of the major destinations within West Seattle. I’m often impressed how many people are using for local trips at non-peak times like Sunday afternoons.

   On the other hand it feels like a very inefficient way to get to Link especially from Admiral. When I first moved here I anticipated using it more to transfer to Link but its a long haul. Trying to travel East a lot of time is spent going South and North and even West on the jog around the Junction. The transfer experience at SODO is also pretty poor. Waiting for the westbound 50 stop feels desolate and eastbound I often miss a train on the long walk from the stop to the platform.

   1. Outside of peak do you always transfer to Link to get downtown or do you sometimes transfer to a bus (like the C, H or 125)?

      1. I always transfer to another bus from 50 to get downtown. Using an app like OneBusAway its usually possible to transfer opportunistically to whatever is timed best and only wait a few minutes for the transfer.

         Coming home is another story because the 50 isn’t too frequent and the 128 often seems to be coming around the same time not providing much help (sometimes one is early and the other over 10 min late).

      2. JG’s experience with the unpredictability of the 128 is an indicators that West Seattle needs a route that stays in West Seattle… or at least terminates in Burien. The 128 zig-zags too much around Southcenter and I’m sure mall traffic doesn’t help. By the time it reaches West Seattle, it’s probably 10 minutes down. Does anyone have any experience with this route?

      3. Interesting. Yeah, Google Maps sent me via a bus (instead of Link) as well. As to your other point the 50 and 128 should both run every fifteen minutes. They should also be timed to provide combined 7.5 minute headways along California (from Alaska Junction to Admiral Junction).

   2. …the jog around the Junction

      It seems like the jog should be fixed. Anyone know if anyone has looked at it?

      It is especially bad for the 128. It isn’t even turning. So the first thing I would do is allow it just keep going straight on California. The 50 and RapidRide have to turn and there are issues. A 50 going southbound on California would have to turn left on Alaska. There are no left turns there in the middle of the day, except transit (https://maps.app.goo.gl/zi6QFSDVX1GC1oaX7). So legally it could turn there — it might just take a while. Going the other way seems easy enough. Right turns can be problematic if you have a narrow intersection but these streets are plenty wide. A northbound RapidRide C making a right from California to Alaska also seems easy enough. The reverse involves using the left turn arrow. Overall it doesn’t seem hard to fix. You could change the routes tomorrow if you wanted. The 50 might be held up waiting to turn left but since it is the only vehicle legally allowed to turn left at worst it goes into the intersection and waits for the light to turn yellow and makes a slow turn. That still seems faster than what it does today. The city could eventually add a left-arrow just for buses (although that would be unusual).

3. Route 50 is a workhorse that is trying to do too much. I don’t think it serves any of its purposes particularly well.

   That said, a number of its flaws, particularly the doglegs in SoDo and Beacon Hill, serve critical purposes. Does the 50 need to go to the VA on every run? Could Metro help the VA run a golf cart shuttle on their campus to avoid the dogleg?

   The SoDo dogleg is even more important but basically kills the 50’s usefulness as a Southend-West Seattle connection. On the other hand, it’s critical for people connecting to the 1 Line and the 59X buses to Tacoma. I’m not sure what the solution for through riders is without a separate route. Nobody is taking the 50 from Columbia City to Alki, or Alaska Junction to Seward Park, and that’s a real bummer because those are great destinations.

   The intra-neighborhood use is unsurprising. I will use the 50 occasionally but only when it happens to show up when I’m already walking along 50th Ave S or Genesee. This is similar to how I use the 7, too. I imagine its use is similar along California Ave SW.

   More frequency would definitely help. 15min should be the minimum, and would do wonders for ridership. This would be a popular example for how increasing service through this year’s transit levy would help riders. But the route is just too long, especially in the middle, and that limits its upside.

   1. I don’t think the VA detour is that big of a deal. According to Google it delays the bus less than a minute if heading towards West Seattle. Going the other way could be a problem as it has to take a left turn into and out of the hospital. This could take a while. Maybe they could add signal priority for the bus for those turns. I also don’t think the Seward Park loop is that big of a deal either. It doesn’t pick up many riders but it doesn’t take that long. It is at the end of the route so not that many riders are hurt by it. You could probably increase ridership if the bus went on Rainier (between Columbia City and Rainier) but it seems like it is worth it to cover Seward Park. I don’t see much wrong with the routing to the east (or the west for that matter).

      The SoDo situation is a bigger deal (in my opinion). I think one of the biggest issues is that the bus is not just a coverage bus. Nor it is just an east-west bus to complement the north-south buses. It is the only midday bus serving Alki and Admiral. These are not coverage areas. These are areas that should have frequent connections to the rest of the system, if not downtown. You really don’t want to give that a lot of riders a two-seat ride just to get to Link, as that means a three-seat ride to places like the UW. (It is bad enough they have three-seat rides to places like First Hill).

      I think the best solution is the one we outlined here: https://seattletransitblog.com/2024/06/07/west-seattle-by-bus-instead-of-light-rail/. The improvements were based on a combination of a small increase in funding and connecting Spokane Street Viaduct to the SoDo Busway. But some ideas work either way. For example I could see this:

      1) Run the 56 all-day every fifteen minutes. Now Alki and Admiral have all-day direct service to downtown.

      2) Now have the 50 skip SoDo. It would stay on the Spokane Street Viaduct between West Seattle and Beacon Hill. Run it every fifteen minutes.

      3) Also run the 128 every 15 minutes. They should be timed to run opposite each other on California (for 7.5 minute headways).

      1. @Ross Bleakney
         I think the reason for the SoDo detour is for access to the base, for crew changes etc. Otherwise it doesn’t seem to directly intersect with any of the bases.

      2. No budget constraint?

      3. @Jack — It would require more money but not huge amounts. It would come from Sound Transit. ST was supposed to give Metro money to improve the C and H, I could easily see that going into other buses (in West Seattle). Of course the big bucks are for West Seattle Link and that would pay for a lot of service.

      4. “ST was supposed to give Metro money to improve the C and H”

         C and D. That project is still in ST3, it was just moved from first to last in the last realignment. SDOT apparently took a long time in deciding what it wanted. We still don’t know what that is.

      5. Thanks for the correction Mike. I’m so used to writing “C and H” now. C and D makes more sense.

      6. The VA hospital detour may not add that much time, but it provides very little benefit. It doesn’t get that many riders, and even if the bus stayed on the street, you can still ride it to the VA hospital anyway. We’re talking about 500 feet here, mostly flat, with a sidewalk. A bus is not a taxi, and it’s not the job of a bus to provide door to door service. If every parking lot with this level of ridership received a bus detour, the bus system would grid to a halt. For instance, should all the U-district buses be detouring into the UW Med Center hospital parking lot? If they did, it would be an awful experience for all riders. The only difference between that and the 50 is that the 50 has fewer riders forced to sit through it.

      7. The path between Alaska St. and the entry to the VA is not a great distance, but it isn’t a flat trip and it can be difficult for someone with mobility challenges. It is a shame that when the hospital was remodeled and the parking garage was added that transit access couldn’t have been improved. Considering the client base at the VA, I’m not irritated by the deviation to the front door.

4. I’m a semi-regular 50 rider, and would agree it’s a fairly good bus that’s trying to do too much. The times I’ve used it to go to Seward Park I’ve been the only rider (well me and my wife), while the bus gets pretty busy between Rainier and Alaska Junction.

   When the Graham Street station actually gets built, I think that will be a natural time to reconsider the 50. A Seward Park – Beacon Hill – Westwood Village route via Graham could take over the 50’s southern end (complemented by a 36 extension to Rainier). I’d have to see the 60’s ridership between Georgetown and Westwood Village, but I would think that 50/60 combination would work pretty well.

   I’m not sure where to terminate the northern end of the 50 in Seward Park if the southern end is split out though. Maybe the commercial district at 50th/Wilson, but that’s pretty close to Seward Park so maybe that would work if there’s another layover there anyways. But then you’ve got to add a fair number of service hours for this.

   I think the West Seattle end of the route works better than the South End side, so I’m not sure about changes there. It’d be nice for a faster trip between the South End and West Seattle, but it’s not really clear to me if that’s a high enough demand route to justify bypassing SODO altogether.

   1. The 50 doesn’t get many riders east of Rainier. Most of those riders are to the north of Orcas. About 50 boardings/alightings to the south and 110 to the north. The northern section also includes a public health center (with about fifty riders) although it is pretty close to Rainier. I think in general the northern part of the loop is more important than the southern loop.

      I like your idea of Westwood Village/Beacon Hill/Rainier Valley route. It might be short enough to make a live loop, like so: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mBBhyP1nDJET7tYWA. The loop would be clockwise. The loop itself is pretty big which means it is less than ideal. Someone in Columbia City would find it annoying to have to go to Seward Park just to get to Westwood Village. But they could always take the 7 south and transfer. Going the other way would be handy. The people to the east would have no choice but to ride through the loop but that section is coverage by nature (better this than nothing).

      At that point the 50 could be simplified. Maybe it ends at the same place but instead of serving Seward Park it turns on Rainier and follows that to Othello. That would make it shorter while quite possibly increasing ridership. There are quite a few people that just ride between MLK and Rainier (on Othello). Giving them a one-seat ride up Rainier would be nice. You also give those on Rainier that one-seat trip to West Seattle.

   2. There must be a route to Seward Park so that all Seattle’s major parks are transit accessible. They’re a tourist attraction along with a residents’ mental health break.

      1. In this scenario, the Seward Park – Beacon Hill – Westwood Village route would directly serve Seward Park (as the 60, with the 49 taking over the current 60 from Capitol Hill to Georgetown), while the 50 would do something else

   3. Did 50th/Wilson historically have a transit route, or only in more recent times?

      1. There was a route 39 from Seward Park to downtown before the 50.

5. I think it’s good to know that the Services for the Blind is next to the stop on Alaska at 35th. As a rider who uses this bus in South Seattle, I see blind riders using the bus. I suspect that some choose housing because of the Route 50 path.

   When looking at overall demand, I think it can get lost that serving blind riders is one of the things Route 50 is doing.

   1. I thought it was on this route but for some reason I thought it was up on Genesee. That is good news for any reroute, as it is really “on the way”. There are a lot of ideas for modifying the 50 but I think folks want to keep that section the way it is.

      1. There’s a Dept of Public Health clinic on Genesee at 37th. That may be what you are thinking about. It’s also a specialized destination — although the Route 50 stops are not much closer than the Route 7 stops are.

      2. Yeah, I noticed the public health clinic. I probably conflated the two.

   2. Great point! And another example of how Route 50 is a workhorse trying to do too much. VA detour, SoDo busway connection (don’t discount the 59- riders!), Lighthouse for the Blind… the 50 serves a lot of unique riders who really rely on it. Cramming so many uses into one route makes it impossible to do anything particularly well. 20min headways is kinda insulting to all of them.

6. If West Seattle Link ever opens, it will take riders away from Route 50 between the Junction and SODO.

   Even though ST gas not updated the opening date from 2032 yet, I don’t see that happening until 2035 even if the Board continues to pursue the project. We are now in 2026 and the final plans and construction contracts are still not ready. The new high Duwamish bridge and the tunnel portion in West Seattle with excavated station vaults are aspects of construction that will make it take longer than normal.

   1. It is not clear if Metro would change any of the routes when West Seattle only gets to SoDo. On the one hand you are right, it would poach some of those riders. On the other hand, what is the alternative? You could serve Admiral Junction and then head to SoDo directly (skipping Alaska Junction) but that means a lot of people in West Seattle lose their ride to Beacon Hill/Rainer Valley. You could follow the same basic path but skip SoDo but that means riders from Alki have to transfer twice to get to the UW (or almost any Link location). They obviously don’t want to do that or they would do that now. You pretty much have to wait until West Seattle trains go downtown and that could be a very long time from now.

      In contrast you could do this sort of thing I outlined above almost immediately. It just requires more money. ST was supposed to give Metro money to improve the C and H, I could easily see that going into other buses (in West Seattle). Of course the big bucks are for West Seattle Link and that would pay for a lot of service.

      1. I’m not suggesting an alternative. I’m just noting that Route 50 ridership will decrease if no changes are made. The consequence of that is of course tempting Metro to reduce frequencies.

         I’m expecting some level of restructuring with WS Link and that could come earlier if ST could put three lines into the existing DSTT through Downtown. As only a WS stub, I doubt it would poach very many riders — mainly being the ones riding between Alaska Junction and SODO on Route 50 today.

      2. I’m just noting that Route 50 ridership will decrease if no changes are made.

         Yes, absolutely. It will poach a few of the 50 riders. Not a huge amount, but some.

         I’m expecting some level of restructuring with WS Link

         My point is that there is nothing obvious. It is basically a “West Seattle Starter Line” but a lot less functionality than the East Side Starter Line. At least with the latter it would make sense for ST to truncate the 566 at Bellevue Transit Center. But that is because the overlap occurs at the tail of the bus route. In this case it is in the middle. Just because you are poaching a few riders doesn’t mean the dynamic changes. It probably won’t poach that many, either. Not that many riders board close to the three future stations heading to SoDo (nor are there many traveling between stations from what we can tell).

         This makes it unlike any other change I can remember. There is always a question as to how aggressive Metro and ST will be with a restructure after Link expands. But you figure they are going to make some changes. In this case they may decide not to make any.

   2. If West Seattle Link gets built, the 50 can skip the dogleg to SODO station and just head straight between West Seattle and Beacon Hill, saving 5-10 minutes. This alone is worth $5 billion or so, right?

7. Tbh, this is one of my least favorite routes. Buckley Transit has mentioned that it’s pointless to connect it to light rail at SODO Station when it already has a light rail connection at Columbia City and Othello stations. It’s also very kooky, and for now, I’ll propose having the west tail run between SODO and Alki (number it the 50), and the east tail from Othello and SODO (number it the 42). Even one time me, Jaylan, and Phillip after having breakfast at the nearby McDonald’s were running for the 50 at SODO Station and didn’t make it (though we would have made it if it were improved).

   1. What’s Buckley Transit?

   2. it’s pointless to connect it to light rail at SODO Station when it already has a light rail connection at Columbia City and Othello stations.

      That is absurd. It definitely adds value. Remember, this is Alki’s only bus in the middle of the day. By connecting to SoDo they can take Link north to places like Capitol Hill, UW, Northgate, etc. They could make that transfer at Columbia City but that adds over fifteen minutes to the trip. As you can see by the report there are a lot of people from West Seattle using the SoDo stop.

      It’s also very kooky, and for now, I’ll propose having the west tail run between SODO and Alki (number it the 50), and the east tail from Othello and SODO (number it the 42).

      West and east tail of what? Are you saying you would split the route? Why?

   3. Mike, Buckley Transit is one of my transit friends, he also makes bus videos like me. Ross, the main reason I propose splitting the 50 is because it’s simply too long and sucks at being an E-W Seattle neighborhood connector, as I said I was out with friends on the first day of winter break, and we didn’t catch the 50 after eating at McDonald’s. I had a proposal of having the 48 go to Alki Beach (replacing the 50, 56, and 57), but I simply think it might make the 48 long, though it can perform better. And plus, I know it’s becoming RapidRide, but it’s not planned out fully, similar to how Metro proposes splitting the B. And you would have different routes cover the 50’s previous paths that aren’t covered by the new 48.

      1. Ross, the main reason I propose splitting the 50 is because it’s simply too long and sucks at being an E-W Seattle neighborhood connector

         That doesn’t mean you eliminate it completely. It also sucks as a connection to Link (at SoDo) and you want to keep that (at both ends no less). All so you can… eat at McDonald’s? Seriously, I have no idea what you are proposing other than splitting the trip in two and making all of those riders transfer for no apparent reason.

      2. It’s not really about eating at McDonald’s, it’s just that the day that happened, me, Jaylan, and Phillip (my friends) lost the 131 or 132 (I couldn’t remember), they also made me run for the 594 just to eat at McDonald’s (which was stupid because we could have simply rode the light rail because we came from riding it). I’m guessing they wanted to ride all of the routes, and we almost lost the 101. What I’m saying is that transit in SODO is really unreliable despite having a busway. Phillip also wanted to eat at McDonald’s even though there was one in Lynnwood (where we got on).

8. West Seattle ST3 Link is a long ways off and may never happen. This post could focus on near term concepts.

   Metro has plans to consider a restructure of Seattle and Vashon services not touched by ST2 Link restructures. Their scopes are often awkward. There has been a dead period during which East Link was delayed when the Seattle network could have been considered; hopefully, this has been happening behind the scenes. I have not noted the beginning of any public process. The East Link project could have touched routes 4, 8, 9, and 106 differently. The South project may be advancing to Council.

   West Seattle service was touched in 1998 (see routes 128 and 15-18-21-22-56), 2004 (Ambaum consolidation and Route 120), 2011 (the SR-99 AWV project took 1st Avenue South from the local network), and 2012 (lines C and D, routes 5-21, 50, a host of one-way peak-only services), 2016 (SE Seattle took service from SODO) and 2023 (H Line, though it was branding only; no complementary routes were changed). Covid led to suspension of several peak routes. The STM has improved Route 60 and Route 50 during the bridge crisis. The south end pathway using Columbia Street is open and flowing (e.g., lines C and D, Route 125, and the non suspended peak routes).

   There are relevant capital projects that have yet to be used intensively: the layover on the VAMC driveway and the South Lander Street overcrossing that is aimed directly at the SODO Link station.

   In 2011, when the network around the C Line was being debated, several versions of Route 50 were considered. At the time, and in retrospect, I agree with the commenter stating that Route 50 was and is trying to do too much. Its headway is too long to have so many different purposes.

   Route 50 should not be considered in isolation. It is a part and will be part of a Link-bus network. Motto: feed Link.

   I hope that Metro and SDOT consider a different network with no one-way routes and more directness and frequency in West Seattle. Lines C and H as is. Routes 21, 124, 131, and 132 shifted to 1st Avenue from 3rd Avenue; routes 124, 131, and 132 would use South Lander Street. Routes 131 and 132 could be streamlined a bit. Route 56 as frequent as can be afforded between Alki and SODO Link via Lander. Route 128 streamlined and truncated at TIBS Link station (ST may have to convert some parking to layover). Route 125 oriented to SODO Link. Route 22 deserves better.

   The west half of Route 50 would be deleted and replaced by improved routes 56 and 128. The east half of Route 50 would be retained and revised; it should be more reliable and frequent, VAMC to Othello Link via Beacon Link, and Seward Park. Today, it is not a good Link feeder due to poor reliability and long headway. All of West Seattle would be connected with SE Seattle via SODO Link station; the south Link line serves SE Seattle (e.g., Beacon, Mt. Baker, Columbia City, Othello, Rainier Beach). There is miniscule Route 50 ridership on the steep slope of Beacon Hill between the VAMC and SODO Link. Note the deviation guideline. If Route 50 used the VAMC as its layover, serving it would not be a deviation. There is a long walk or roll between Route 36 and the hospital; it would be better to connect the main nursing tower with the Beacon Link station. (In north Seattle, the NW Hospital and Four Freedoms service could be changed in a similar way).

   1. The VAMC deviation on Route 50 feels annoying but the time delay is maybe just a minute or two. The problem with VAMC is that the site’s transit access is very awkward generally. I however don’t think that’s an easy fix. But Route 50 is the only route that comes to the front door — even though multiple routes skirt the edges.

   2. So no bus from West Seattle to Beacon Hill/Rainier Valley? Ouch. I’m not saying a lot of people use that combination but it would suddenly get a lot worse. Most of the West Seattle buses run express to downtown via Columbia. That adds quite a bit of backtracking. By my estimation you have as many people going east-west as you have transferring at SoDo.

      This goes to the basic problem. The bus is trying to do too much but every little piece is popular. The biggest problem is that there isn’t quite enough money to provide a decent network.

      1. As an occasional 50 rider from Beacon Hill to West Seattle, I don’t notice very many riders using the 50 as a West Seattle to Beacon Hill connection.

         My suggestions for revision would be to run the 56 all day between Alki and SODO. Then, split the current 50 into 2 routes: a revived 39 and 50. The 39 would run from SODO to the VA, then to Seward Park and Othello. The 50 would start at the 55/128 terminal, go to the Junction and follow its current route and terminate at (or near) the VA. This would create 2 routes that operate from SODO to the VA that could be scheduled so that the SODO to VA segment receives high frequency service.

      2. The transfer to Link would have a short walk and a short wait. The Route 50 headway is now long.

         I expect ST could spend ST3 funds on RR; they would not be eager to spend funds on local routes.

      3. As an occasional 50 rider from Beacon Hill to West Seattle, I don’t notice very many riders using the 50 as a West Seattle to Beacon Hill connection.

         Yeah, but the numbers are similar to those that use it as a bus to get to SoDo (about 200 riders each way). That is really the crux of the problem. If not that many people were using it to get to SoDo it would be easy to argue against serving SoDo. If not that many people were using it as a way to get between West Seattle and Beacon Hill/Rainier Valley it would be easy to just abandon the idea. But whenever I calculate the number of riders it always seems similar. In other words there is no obvious division point. This is different than say, the 331. A bus leaving Shoreline College empties out almost completely. Only nine riders a day keep riding.

         I think the only way to improve the route is to do things like you are suggesting (and what I suggested up above) which would require more money. It starts with running the 56 more often.

      4. Yes, it’s hard to argue for adding service to route corridors that aren’t very productive, but most of the ridership does seem to focus on SODO. Every transit network is going to have a few “dog” routes or corridors that don’t seem to generate good ridership but are good for the whole network. The 50 is probably one of Metro’s routes that isn’t productive financially, but it does build the network.

         I would love to see the 56 run all day, but not at the expense of other, more productive routes.

9. Here’s a topic that affects Route 50 bus that isn’t discussed much:

   If construction starts on West Seattle Link (as ST hopes) by sometime 2027 or maybe 2028, the SODO busway will need to be closed between Lander and Spokane. What happens to all those bus routes?

   1. The 50 is easy – it would just use 6th. The rest of the routes can also use 6th, or 4th if that’s better. I would say bus lanes on 4th would be plenty to accommodate the SODO busway routes

      1. 6th was changed in the last year to now have protected bicycle lanes.

         There are several routes on the busway. That’s lots of buses. That’s a lot to expect for a shared street like 6th to handle.

         4th is an option but it has several issues too.

      2. There’s only four all day routes on the busway (50, 101, 150, 594). I think those routes could probably work fine on 6th or 4th. If it doesn’t work, then SDOT should just add a temporary bus lane until the SODO busway reopens. Seems pretty simple to me.

10. West Seattle residents and regular visitors: Do you use the water taxi shuttles? If so, is ur primarily ti get to the water taxi or for intra-West Seattle trips? (E.g. to Alki.) How well do the shuttles serva as an alternative to the 50? I’ve never been able to use them because they were hourly and not coming soon

    1. They don’t really serve as an alternative to the 50 given the routing is focused on the Water Taxi with loops and layovers at Seacrest Park.

       The 775 can be nice for a ride up the hill to Admiral after a walk down to Marination at Seacrest Park. From Admiral the 775 provides a free ride down to Alki but there’s no real time arrival info available and it doesn’t run the other direction. Its more of an “if its there I might hop on” type of service.

    2. I believe the 775 is timed with the water taxi so you can take it on arrival. At least it’s been there the last two times I arrived.

       The water taxi doesn’t really connect to anything though. Occasionally I’ll take it for fun but otherwise I drive to Alki on the rare occasion I go, since transit takes so long to get there.

       I think extending the 128 and laying over at the water taxi terminal would be a massive upgrade for not much cost

    3. Is this another impersonation? Mike normally writes perfectly spelled English; this is an illiterate nightmare.

       1. It’s because I was on a phone. I normally write from a desktop. I was on Link coming back from Costco sitting with a full backpack behind me, so it was hard to stay on the seat and type and my stop was coming up.

       2. Thanks, Mike; apologies. Phones can misinterpret what we mean to say pretty hilariously.

       3. No need for apologies; I appreciate you checking. Touchscreen keyboards have a cumbersome interface; phones often autocorrect wrong and you don’t realize it; and when your stop is coming up you don’t have time to reread it again. So the result is more spelling and word mistakes than we used to have.

11. It doesn’t get much notice, but the 15th Ave stop at Dakota is the only place where a direct bus to or from First Hill (Route 60) intersects Route 50. It’s not noticed much because the path through Beacon Hill takes awhile.and the transfer stop feels pretty barren too.

    I mention this because Route 60 is so slow that some don’t even realize that First Hill is just a transfer from places along Route 50 in West Seattle or SE Seattle.

    1. I would guess that the vast majority of people that make that transfer are just headed to the north end of Beacon Hill (but not by the station). Otherwise it seems like there are better alternatives (for most people) to get to First Hill. I suppose if you are starting at Alki it avoids a second transfer but it is probably faster to take a bus downtown and then the G up the hill. This is especially true if you on the part that overlaps the C. If you are on the main corridors east of 15th (Beacon Avenue, MLK, Rainier) you are probably better off taking a bus (or Link) towards downtown and the G (or streetcar) up the hill. That leaves people in the gaps or Seward Park and their just aren’t that many people riding there.

       On the other hand if you are headed to the Pacific Tower (what used to be a marine hospital) this would be a good option from a lot of stops on the 50. A lot would depend on the timing.

       1. Having ridden this connection, I found that Route 60 is very slow from just south of Beacon Hill to the hospitals. Part of this is because the route is heavily used so it’s stopping often. The path around Beacon Hill station is especially slow as the Metro stops at the station are in traffic — and buses often must wait for other buses to leave to get to the Beacon Hill station stop.

          Keep in mind that RapidRide G is many blocks from Harborview but there’s -always Routes 3 and 4.

          There are people who have mobility issues and would rather transfer just once — even if it takes more time. This is especially true for medical trips to and from First Hill.

12. Just for fun, I looked up how long a trip between the West Seattle Junction and Columbia City takes using the C->Link option to see if the 50 and all its detours even offers any time advantage over the 2-ride alternative.

    Based on Google numbers, the unfortunate numbers are 51 minutes by C->Link vs. 38 minutes on the 50 or 16 minutes in a private car. A large reason why C->Link is so slow is that the C doesn’t connect to Link very well downtown, forcing you to ride the bus through a bunch of stoplights, then walk down into a deep tunnel station and wait up to 10 minutes for a train, plus detour out of the way to University St. Station.

    For what it’s worth, West Seattle Link, as proposed for ST3, would significantly shorten this trip, moving the connection to SODO, and removing most of the overhead (although the number of people making it is way too tiny to justify the line’s construction cost).

    1. @ asdf2:

       Did you pick a particular point in Columbia City? The published schedule time points are Columbia City Station for Link or Genesee and Rainier for Metro 50. Neither are in the middle of the business district.

       Anyway, it does seem that Route 50 has excessively low speeds between the two places. It’s not just the SODO jog either.

    2. Be careful about the Google numbers. They often make mistakes when it comes to walking directions. They somehow don’t think you can cross a street that people cross all the time. As a result, transit directions that involve transfers are often much worse than they suggest. A trip from West Seattle to Link via the 50 added a lot of extra time for what I’m sure is a fairly quick transfer (not ideal, but i think it is less than the 7 minutes they suggest).

       That being said, even when I adjusted for those numbers I found that the SoDo transfer isn’t great if you are heading north on Link. If you are starting from The Junction you would be better off taking the C and then transferring downtown. If you are going the other direction then getting off at SoDo makes sense but it doesn’t save you that much time. This is a case for just skipping SoDo (even though there are plenty of riders there). The main drawback to that is that you also skip the buses (e. g. the 101 and 150) which would mean a lot of backtracking.

13. I think given that the route has such a distinct split in ridership (east vs west of Rainier), it should get split into two routes. Maybe the R could provide an opportunity to split the 106 and 107:

    – R (7): 10m. As designed; skip the Henderson loop
    – 50 (50W): 15m. Begin somewhere around Alaska/Rainier as the 50, headed west. Skip the detour to the VA.
    – 107 (107S + 50E): 20m. Begin in Renton as the 107. At MLK, head north on MLK and east on Othello to follow the route of the 50. Lay over at the VA
    – 106 (106S + 107N): 20m. Begin in Renton as the 106 . At MLK, head west down Henderson to follow the route of the 107. Lay over at Beacon Hill station.
    – 108 (106N): 15m. Begin at Rainier Beach as the 106. Take over the Henderson loop and head north on Rainier. Head to First Hill and lay over near Madison/Boren. Extend to SLU, then LQA via Harrison/Mercer if/when funds allow.

    1. That’s not decently good restructure. Of course, every route has niche riders that it serves (like blind people) that may have issues. Still, such ponderings can be useful.

       Rather than end a 50W route at the VA, J would go at least a few blocks further to enable Route 60 and 107 transfers. Or it could be much longer and connect to Judkins Park station and Madison Valkey if Route 8 is severed. Route 50 is the only route to travel east-west between the Beacon Hill ridge and the Rainier Valley between Jackson Street and Othello. I could see a severed Route 8 south starting at Madison Valley that passes by Judkins Park station continuing down and up 23rd to Spokane Street and turning onto 15th to get to the VA hospital as an extension of your 50W route. I realize that it’s lots more service hours, but it would really offer a connection that doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t work for 50W maybe it could be something for 50E rather than be attached to 107S — or a one-seat ride from Alaska Junction to Judkins Park!

       1. The 50 goes Rainier to Alki here, not to the VA

       2. I think Beacon Hill Station would make a good terminus for the eastern portion of route 50. I don’t think sodo needs a bus to the east, given that it has Link.

       3. Oops jd. I meant 50E that ends at the VA. I got 50E and 50W reversed.

    2. Oh, on your idea of a layover for 50W near Rainier and Genesee, may I suggest next to Safeway on Charlestown St at 35th. The buses can loop around Safeway and get back on Rainier at the Andover signal. There are several options to arrange for a comfort station. That shopping center is only served by Route 7 today. There is even a new park, Cheryl Chow Park, across the street from this possible layover point.

    3. Typo: The 108 heads up MLK

       R: Rainier Beach to downtown via Rainier
       50: Columbia City to Alki
       106: Renton to Beacon Hill
       107: Renton to VA via Seward Park (coverage)
       108: Rainier Beach to First Hill via MLK

14. I take the 50 mostly between Alki and Alaska Junction. The 50 feels slow in the Alaska Junction-SODO part, and Genesee Street’s narrowness and steepness makes me a bit uncomfortable (I’m surprised a bus is allowed there), so I’d rather take the C to downwtown instead. Also, I’d rather transfer at Alaska Junction than SODO because it’s a pleasant village and I can stopover somewhere, whereas SODO is a concrete jungle.

    1. The 50 is a useful bus, I take it a lot on weekends. My main stops I get on and off: Trader Joe’s, Alaska Junction, Admiral Junction and Alki. I rarely take it past SODO but it’s useful to get to Columbia City, albeit slowly. Regarding your earlier question about the Water Taxi, I use it sometimes on the weekends. The free shuttles are super reliable and coordinate timely with the boat’s arrivals and departures. The views are absolutely stunning.

       1. Where is Trader Joe’s on the 50?

          There’s a Trader Joe’s in northern Seward Park but I thought it was far from any bus route.

       2. There’s a Trader Joe’s a block north of the stop at Alaska & Fauntleroy.

    2. agree

15. Based on what frequent riders have said (and information gathered from Google Maps) I think the biggest weakness of the 50 is that it takes too long to get to SoDo. On paper this route looks great. It looks like the fastest way to get from The Junction to Link if you are headed north (e. g. to the UW). But not that many people use it for that. With a bus coming from Alki, more people get off the bus on Alaska than on. Riders much prefer taking the C (and transferring downtown) if they are headed towards the UW. This is counterintuitive. Normally you want to get off the bus as quickly as possible. But in the case of buses like the C, they run express to downtown. If you are headed north on Link from Alaska Street it is just faster to take the C and transfer downtown.

    Yet the SoDo Station stop gets plenty of riders from West Seattle. I think those riders consist of:

    1) Riders from Alki heading to northern Link locations (like the UW). Taking the C would require two transfers.
    2) Riders from everywhere in West Seattle heading south on Link (e. g. SeaTac).

    In the second case you save some time, but not much. You can just stay on the bus and transfer later. Thus the main benefit of serving the SoDo Station is that riders from Alki can avoid a transfer if they are headed to a Link (not served by the C Line). The other benefit for riders is that they connect to the SoDo Busway (and just SoDo in general).

    But this goes back to the fundamental problem: It is very time consuming to serve SoDo from West Seattle. The 21 also serves SoDo (although it connects to Link and the busway closer to Stadium Station) but it is much slower to downtown than buses like the C, H or 125. I think there are four options:

    1) The first is to just live with the clunky nature of the 50.
    2) Choose one set of riders over another. For example the 50 could just skip SoDo (and stay on the Spokane Street Viaduct between West Seattle and Beacon Hill).
    3) Spend more money on service. Run the 56 during the middle of the day (every fifteen minutes). Have the 50 skip SoDo and instead of going to Alki layover with the 128.
    4) Connect the Spokane Street Viaduct with the SoDo Busway. Then send most of the buses that way. You would still want an east-west bus like the 50 but again it would skip SoDo.

16. Another weakness with the route is that there is a service mismatch between the eastern section (by Seward Park) and the rest of the line. It is basically a combination of buses. To the east of Rainier Avenue it picks up very few people. But without that bus those riders would have to walk a long distance. That part is coverage. Buses like that can run infrequently and still do reasonably well. But much of the route is both a shortcut and a connector. A lot of riders transfer and if they do, this may be the fastest way. But routes like that need to be frequent. Otherwise they simply lose out to the competition.

    For example this is a trip from Columbia City* to the north end of Beacon Hill at noon on a weekday: https://maps.app.goo.gl/a89bQ4Mze6xoW4hF8. The fastest option is to take the 50 and 36. Using the 7 and then backtracking (via the 36 or 60) takes about ten minutes longer. But the 50 is so infrequent that backtracking will actually get you there sooner.

    There are options to deal with this but none sound great. If you could find a layover and turnaround in Columbia City then you could have two versions of the bus (similar to the eastern end of the 3). One bus would end there while the other keeps going to Seward Park and Othello. Each bus could run every half hour (which means every fifteen minutes to Columbia City). One drawback to that approach is that you also lose the connection from Othello Station to Rainier Avenue which gets about 40 riders a day. It may not be worth it given there is no existing layover there.

    Another option would be to have a “shortcut” version. One branch would turn south on Rainier and then right again at Othello Street. This branch would not only be shorter but it might pick up more riders. One issue might be the right turn from southbound Rainier to westbound Othello — that might be difficult. You might have to extend the stop line on Othello for eastbound cars up the hill a bit (like they did in Lake City for the 65).

    You could also split this part of the line and attach it to something else. But there really aren’t coverage buses in the area. It could be a standalone coverage route. A bus could start at Othello and follow the current routing to Seward Park. But when it gets to Genesee and 38th it could turn right. Then it would follow that path to McClellan to the transit center in Mount Baker. The 14 would no longer need to do the tiny out-and-back. That would be a fairly short route but I could see it being extended. For example I’ve long argued that the 27 is too infrequent. This could be a branch of the 27. From Yesler one of the buses would turn south at 23rd and head towards Mount Baker (and eventually Seward Park and Othello). If the 8 is eventually split then we may decide that the MLK part of the 8 only needs coverage frequency. This could easily be connected to it.

    Either way if you split off the Seward Park section you still have to figure out a layover in Columbia City or deal with that sharp turn on Othello.

    *By “Columbia City” I mean Rainier & Alaska (not the station on MLK).

    1. The challenge of Route 50 east of Rainier is that there really aren’t many useful destinations next to stops. There’s specialized destinations like schools and services for the blind and the clinic — but most riders treat it like it’s a feeder bus.

       I’ve pondered if a north-south route focused on serving areas east of Rainier could be assembled by taking parts of other routes. A new route could merge a split Route 8 south with 50 east of Rainier for example. It probably should run by both 1 Line and 2 Line Link stations as well as major RV retail.

       Now that Route 50 offers a direct ride to the services for the blind, there has been migration to the Seward Park residential area by visually impaired people so that could mean pushback against the idea. It’s also a great way to get to Columbia City Station for people who live near Genesee St. In the above example, it could run on MLK between Alaska and the Mount Baker TC to still accommodate those journeys.

    2. Another option: Have the 50 branch at Genesee/38th, sending one branch up 38th to Mt Baker TC. This would take over the tail of the 14.

       The closest coverage route is the 107; my suggestion above was to split the 107 at MLK and attach the Seward Park segment to the southern segment of the 107

17. This data completely misses the return of students to Mercer MS.

    1. Correct. The data presented in the article were collected between September 2024 to March 2025. Mercer MS reopened in Fall 2025. We’ll get Fall 2025 data in a few months (April).

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