The 500,000th rider of the King County Water Taxi of the year is West Seattle resident Mary Ballanger. She is a regular water taxi rider

3.1 million riders since inception in 2009. In addition to this milestone, we have set an all-time record for annual ridership for both the West Seattle and Vashon routes.

The previous annual record for the Water Taxi was 467,119 passengers in 2014. In addition to the Water Taxi system milestone, each route is achieving a record year for ridership.

The West Seattle route currently stands at 307,500 passengers for 2015. In addition to surpassing the 300,000 passenger mark for the first time, the total also surpasses the 282,662 passenger record set last year. The Vashon route is currently at 192,500 passengers for 2015 and will exceed 200,000 passengers later this month. The previous record on this route was 187,824 passengers set in 2013.

As the Water Taxi service continues to grow, so does the King County Marine Division’s fleet. Earlier this year, the Water Taxi launched two new vessels with the capacity of 278 passengers each. In the prior three years, the Marine Division also added a back-up vessel along with a new moorage and maintenance barge as part of its fleet expansion.