This afternoon, the King County Water Taxi marked a milestone – the first year with more than half a million riders. Before the 4:50 pm run from downtown, regular rider Mary Ballanger, a West Seattle resident, was designated and celebrated as the ceremonial 500,000th passenger:

According to the KC Department of Transportation:

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.

In all, KCDOT says, it’s served 3.1 million riders since 2009. The new M/V Doc Maynard is expected to take over the West Seattle run next month, after training and dock improvement, as reported here earlier this month.