The Elliott Bay Water Taxi ended its ninth sailing season at last Saturday evening by marking the completion of its most successful season yet.

King County Metro Transit projects overall ridership for the season will be more than 118,000 passengers, the highest summer ridership in water taxi history.

This season saw an increase of approximately 9 percent over the same period last year. The service, provided by the 62-foot Argosy Cruise vessel "Sightseer" carried as many as 150 passengers at a time for the 12-minute ride between Seacrest Dock in West Seattle and Pier 55, complemented by a bus shuttle in West Seattle.

"The Elliott Bay Water Taxi has become part of a summer commuting experience for thousands of residents," King County Executive Ron Sims. "But this past summer, its value as a public transportation option became even clearer when the water taxi carried more than 1,600 commuters to downtown Seattle during an eight-hour closure of the West Seattle Bridge. The traffic back-ups were so extreme, Metro added extra runs to accommodate more passengers - once again proving the water taxi's worth as an important transportation alternative."

Since its inception, the water taxi has delivered more than 770,000 trips between West Seattle and downtown.