Sound Transit's quarterly ridership report has good news for the light-rail and suburban rail and bus agency: With the exception of Sounder commuter rail, ridership on Sound Transit's rail and bus service increased substantially this year over the same quarter last year. On Central Link Light Rail, ridership overall increased 10 percent, with average weekday boardings climbing to nearly 24,000 (an increase of 9 percent over last year). Sound Transit Express bus ridership was up 11 percent (12 percent on weekdays), with most gains in Snohomish County and East King County. Tacoma Link boardings increased 16 percent overall and on weekdays. And Sounder ridership declined 16 percent on the north line to Everett, although weekday ridership on Sounder overall actually increased about 1 percent.

More stats from the report:

• The cost of running light rail trains continued to decline, with per-boarding costs of $6.88, compared to $7.13 last year. Additionally, light rail trains were on time nearly 84 percent of the time, compared to just under 77 percent a year ago.

• In contrast, the per-trip cost of Sounder commuter rail trips jumped last year, increasing from $11.79 in 2010 to $13.77 this year so far.

• And the percentage of trains and buses that arrived and left on time generally increased, with a few minor exceptions.

Read the whole report for yourself here.