Light rail ridership up last month
Link light rail weekday ridership surged 94.8 percent in November above the same month in 2015 as the new Link stations that opened in March and September continued to expand the system’s popularity.
Combined boardings on Sound Transit light rail and commuter trains and express buses grew 33.4 percent for the month compared to the same period last year.
Link averaged 66,237 riders each weekday in November, up from 34,003 weekday riders for the same period last year. Saturday ridership increased 103.5 percent to 44,130. On Nov. 7, a Seahawks game helped generate an estimated 85,000 Link boardings.
The monthly ridership report is available online: www.soundtransit.org/ridership
Saturday Sounder service added for Seahawks 5:15 p.m. playoff game
Inbound Sounder trains from the south depart Lakewood at 1:50 and 2:30 p.m., and from Sumner at 2:37 p.m. The first train leaving Lakewood is an express service that stops in Lakewood, South Tacoma, Tacoma and Puyallup before continuing directly to Seattle, where it arrives at King Street Station at 2:57 p.m. The second train departs Sumner at 2:37 p.m. with stops in Auburn, Kent and Tukwila before reaching Seattle at 3:19 p.m. A third train leaves Lakewood at 2:30 p.m. and stops at all south line Sounder stations before arriving at King Street Station at 3:43 p.m.
The schedule for Snohomish/North King County Sounder trains serving the Seahawks game is online: www.soundtransit.org/seahawks
– Sound Transit
Tacoma fuel prices up over last week
Average retail gasoline prices in Tacoma have risen 6.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.70 per gallon on January 1, according to GasBuddy.com’s daily survey of 271 gas outlets in Tacoma. This compares with the national average that has increased 5.6 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.34 per gallon.
Including the change in gas prices in Tacoma during the past week, prices were 19.8 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 12.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average stands 35.4 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
According to GasBuddy historical data, gasoline prices over the past five years on January 3 in Tacoma have ranged from a high of $3.42 in 2013 to a low of $2.50 in 2015 and 2016.
GasBuddy’s 2017 fuel price outlook anticipates a surge in prices at the pump in the United States, with the national average rising to $2.49 per gallon. GasBuddy predicts that fuel in the nation’s largest cities, including Seattle, will hit $3 per gallon a times in the coming year.
– GasBuddy.com
