Sound Transit boosts rail ridership in 2Q; board trims project list for ballot measure

Sound Transit logged a 12 percent increase in commuter-rail ridership in second-quarter 2015 compared with the year-ago period.

The quarter was also the second busiest in the agency's history, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

During the quarter, the agency logged 13,929 average weekday boardings on the Sounder commuter-line, with a total of 913,299 boardings.

On the Central Link light-rail line, average weekday boardings rose 7 percent to 35,989 compared with second-quarter 2014. Sound Transit reported 2.9 million total boardings on Central Link.

Additionally, the number of average weekday boardings increased by 1 percent on the Tacoma Link light-rail line. Average weekday boardings on that line came in at 3,405, with a total of 253,497 boardings.

"Once again, Sound Transit’s strong ridership growth shows no slowdown in the demand for more transit throughout our region," said Sound Transit Chair Dow Constantine.

Meanwhile, the agency's board late last week identified the projects that will be studied as potential candidates for the November ballot measure known as Sound Transit 3.

Each project will be studied to determine estimates of ridership, capital and operating costs, travel times and reliability, and potential for transit-oriented development.

To be completed over the coming months, the studies will help the board determine which projects should be included in a draft ballot for more public input, Sound Transit officials said.

The project list includes light-rail extensions and stations, and commuter-rail and bus improvements.