Getting around Bellevue with Community Transit
Community Transit is here to get you where you want to go. We are proud to be a part of the Bellevue community — we live here, ride here, and drive here. Wherever you need to go in Bellevue, feel good about how you get there.
About Bellevue
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County and is located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and is home to some of the world’s largest tech companies. Companies currently headquartered there include PACCAR Inc, T-Mobile, and Valve. Microsoft is also a major employer in the area. People traveling to and from the area can choose from a robust bus network, the expanding East Link Light Rail, and express bus routes to adjacent cities such as Seattle. Local transit centers are a major hub for many of these regional transit options, including Community Transit buses, DART paratransit service, and Vanpool riders. Local bike trails and parks also offer nearby options for pedestrians and bikers.
Popular Destinations
Community Transit ridership increased 19% in 2022
Community Transit has released its end-of-the-year ridership numbers for 2022 and the data shows a positive trend in total system boardings.
The transit agency reported a total of 5.8M boardings in 2022, a significant increase over 4.9M boardings in 2021. Fixed-route bus service experienced a 19% increase. Breaking it down further, average weekday boardings increased by 20%, average Saturday boardings increased 14%, and average Sunday boardings increased 15% .
Swift Bus Rapid Transit
One of the significant contributing factors to the increase in boardings was Swift Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which accounted for almost 36% of total fixed-route boardings. The Swift Blue and Green lines together showed an average increase of 14% on weekdays, 11% on Saturdays, and 10% on Sundays. In comparison to the previous year, Swift BRT service had an increase of 240k total boardings.
DART Paratransit
The DART paratransit service performed well in 2022, with a 24% increase in total boardings. DART ridership was up 23% in average weekday boardings, 22% on Saturdays, and 34% on Sundays.
Vanpool
Vanpool total boardings went up 22% in ’22, almost 51k more boardings than the previous year. As of now there is 252 Vanpool vehicles on the road versus 219 at the end of 2021.
Zip
Zip Alderwood Shuttle started service in October 2022 and ridership numbers were not included in this report.
Many factors have contributed to the increase in transit ridership, including the loosening of COVID-19 policies and attitudes, which allowed people to return to office work and other activities. The introduction of the free youth transit pass in September 2022 also had a positive impact on the boardings.
