Link light-rail ridership dipped in November

Ridership on Link light rail declined in November to 14,399 average weekday boardings, lowest in four months.

That figure compares to 16,192 in October, and nearly 15,000 in both August and September.

A November dip isn't surprising, said Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray, since October tends to be the best month for bus and commuter-rail lines. "We're really going to have a better picture once we're into it one or two years, what the ridership is," he said.

Trips should increase after airport service begins Saturday morning, and again in February, when King County Metro Transit's competing Route 194 to the air terminal is discontinued.

John Niles, a Link opponent, said seasonal variation may be to blame. Nonetheless, "you would think there would be an upward dynamic of people who ride it, then embrace it," he said. The $2.3 billion line from downtown to Tukwila, among the world's costliest light-rail projects, attracted crowds totaling 90,000 riders during its first weekend in mid-July.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com