Link light rail farebox recovery, 2017-2025

What this chart asks

What share of Link light rail operating costs did fares cover each year, compared with Sound Transit's own minimum?

Why it is shown this way

• A line over years with the current policy minimum and target as reference lines shows how far Link is from Sound Transit's own standard.
• The y axis starts at zero.
• Years are ordinal because 2021 is missing; the line joins 2020 directly to 2022.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

17% minimum (adopted 2024)

Threshold: 0.17

Sound Transit Board fare policy, Resolution R2024-08.

22% target (adopted 2024)

Threshold: 0.22

Sound Transit Board fare policy, Resolution R2024-08. Before May 2024 the Link requirement was 40%.

No 2021 value

2022

No 2021 Link farebox figure was found; the line joins 2020 to 2022.

Why this is marked: Readers should not read the segment from 2020 to 2022 as measured 2021 data.

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset link-fare-payment-farebox, analysis link-farebox-recovery

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Sound Transit Link light rail: boardings with fare media, fare revenue and farebox recovery, 2017-2025

1. Sound Transit, 2025 Fare Revenue Report Link boardings by payment type including boardings without fare media, fare revenue, operating expenses and farebox recovery for 2023-2025; policy minimums and targets; 2019 fare-media share and farebox recovery

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record of a Washington public agency. Figures restated with attribution; the PDF is linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Speaks against its own interest. Sound Transit's annual report to its Board on its own fare revenue. Its fare-media figures are unfavourable to the agency's fare-compliance record and below the assumptions in its own financial plan.

2. Sound Transit, 2024 Fare Revenue Report Link fare revenue, operating expenses and farebox recovery for 2022-2024

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record of a Washington public agency. Figures restated with attribution; the PDF is linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Speaks against its own interest. Sound Transit's annual report to its Board on its own fare revenue; same method as the 2025 report.

3. Sound Transit, 2023 Fare Revenue Report Link boardings by payment type including boardings without fare media for 2021-2023; youth free fares from September 2022; new fare compliance policy from November 2023

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record of a Washington public agency. Figures restated with attribution; the PDF is linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Speaks against its own interest. Sound Transit's annual report to its Board on its own fare revenue; same method as later reports.

4. Sound Transit, 2020 Fare Revenue Report Link boardings and fare revenue for 2018-2020; inspection-based fare evasion rate for 2020; 2020 farebox recovery

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record of a Washington public agency. Figures restated with attribution; the PDF is linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Sound Transit's annual fare revenue report for 2020, when electronic fare inspection was suspended for part of the year because of the pandemic.

5. Sound Transit, 2019 Fare Revenue Report Link boardings by passenger type and fare revenue for 2017-2019; inspection-based fare evasion rates for 2018 and 2019; Link farebox recovery for 2017-2019

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record of a Washington public agency. Figures restated with attribution; the PDF is linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Government. Sound Transit's pre-pandemic fare revenue report, when inspectors aimed to check 10% of Link riders and evasion was measured from those checks.

Limitations

• 2021 is not available.
• Operating costs rose 219% from 2019 to 2025 as Link opened extensions (some costs came before the extensions carried riders), so the fall in farebox recovery reflects rising costs more than falling fare payment.
• The policy minimum and target shown were adopted in May 2024; before then Link was required to reach 40%.