WA: Mike Lindblom: Drive-alone and transit commutes are increasing to downtown Seattle

As commuters flowed back into Seattle's downtown core last year, driving alone made a comeback, fewer people chose public transit than in the 2010s, and telework solidified as a popular lifestyle.

Those themes stand out in Commute Seattle's latest study of nearly 200,000 employees in downtown and central-city neighborhoods such as First Hill and South Lake Union, taking October 2024 data and published Monday morning.

Its data might already be stale, because Amazon ordered staff back to the office five days a week Jan. 2, affecting 50,000 Seattle workers.

Regardless, the statistics reveal certain challenges to help people travel through Seattle's tight downtown. Streets are becoming too saturated again to absorb the entire workforce, if most people drive.

ln-depth surveys of 43,791 central-city morning commuters showed they worked 34% of their shifts from home in October, down from 46% in 2022. Solo drivers (including taxis, Uber and Lyft clients) accounted for 27% of trips to work, which is slightly more than in 2019 before COVID-19, economic slowdowns and crime shrank downtown commerce. Another 25% chose public transit, which is gradually rebounding postpandemic, yet far below the 46% share from the 2010s, when Seattle led the nation in ridership growth.

How people commute into central Seattle

"For many years, the opposite of drive-alone was transit," said Alex Hudson, executive director of Commute Seattle, a nonprofit funded by businesses and transportation agencies, to achieve state trip-reduction goals. "We have a three-star situation now, which is we've got drive-alone, transit and remote work." It's not that transit riders are changing to cars, it's that returnees are opting to drive, she suspects.

Unsurprisingly, the leading stay-at-home weekdays are Mondays and Fridays, while jammed freeway ramps and standing room only buses were commonplace midweek. A full 52% of central-city employees worked at home Fridays, while only 26% stayed home Wednesdays.

Across the entire city, drive-alone commuters increased for the first time in 10 years, and stands at 31%.

Households earning over $180,000 per year take transit only 18% of the time, compared with 35% for those earning less than $60,000. Other households showed near 25% transit use. Driving rates are nearly identical regardless of income, about one-fourth of workdays.

Respondents chose their primary form of commute, so people who bike to transit or ferry, for instance, couldn't count bikes in their commute.

Why did returnees lean toward driving?

Presented with multiple reasons, 59% of drivers replied it makes the commute significantly shorter, followed by convenience, family care and flexibility; and 22% considered driving safer than other travel options, while 14% didn't consider transit to be available.

"People are saying that their time is really valuable for them, and how long their trip takes is a major driving factor," Hudson commented. Employees who combine a commute with child care pickups strongly favored driving. The report recommends more day care facilities near downtown, and employer-sponsored shuttles.

However, drivers are the least satisfied group, with 43% rating their experience a 6 or lower, on a scale of 0 to 10. Bicyclists were the happiest, with 33% rating their trips a 9 or 10 — yet still represent only 3% of central city commutes.

Street-level conditions are rapidly changing and create an opportunity to promote other choices besides driving, Hudson said:

• Average worker foot traffic downtown grew 12% from 90,000 in March 2024 to 101,000 this March, according to Downtown Seattle Association data.
• Public transit boardings increased 12% regionally in 2024 compared with 2023. Sound Transit's light rail 1 Line hit the 100,000 daily boardings mark in October and November, and carried 92,400 daily riders in March, despite frequent delays. Westlake Station is the busiest again, Hudson said.
• Seattle continues to build a connected bike lane network, such as a new waterfront trail, a future Alaskan Way bikeway segment reaching Olympic Sculpture Park, and the fully separated path being paved from the West Seattle Bridge Trail to the stadiums, alongside new port-truck lanes.

The Seattle Department of Transportation, the University of Washington's Mobility Innovation Center, UW's College of Built Environments, and Washington State Department of Transportation contributed funds or research. "Central City" was defined as Commercial Core, Belltown, Denny Triangle, South Lake Union, Uptown, Capitol Hill, Pike/Pine, First Hill, Pioneer Square, and Chinatown-International District neighborhoods.

Seattle Times staff reporter Nicholas Deshais contributed to this report.

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