Washington State Ferries

Washington State Ferries

MV Tacoma at Colman Dock in Downtown Seattle
Locale	Washington
Waterway	Puget Sound, Salish Sea
Transit type	Ferry
Owner	Washington State Department of Transportation
Operator	Washington State Department of Transportation
Began operation	June 1, 1951 (1951-06-01)
No. of lines	10
No. of vessels	21
No. of terminals	20
Daily ridership	51,700 (weekdays, Q2 2024)[1]
Yearly ridership	18,661,400 (2023)[2]
Website	wsdot.wa.gov/travel/washington-state-ferries

Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands. Most routes are designated as part of the state highway system. WSF maintains a fleet of 21 vessels that are able to carry passengers and vehicles.

The ferry system carried a total of 18.66 million riders in 2023—9.69 million passengers and 8.97 million vehicles.^[3] WSF is the largest ferry system in the United States and the second-largest vehicular ferry system in the world behind BC Ferries.^[4] The state ferries carried an average of 51,700 per weekday in the second quarter of 2024.

The ferry system has its origins in the "mosquito fleet", a collection of small steamer lines serving the Puget Sound area during the later part of the nineteenth century and early part of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1930s, two lines remained: the Puget Sound Navigation Company (known as the Black Ball Line) and the Kitsap County Transportation Company. A strike in 1935 caused the KCTC to close, leaving only the Black Ball Line.^[5]

Toward the end of the 1940s, the Black Ball Line wanted to increase its fares, to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers' unions, but the state refused to allow this, and so the Black Ball Line shut down. In 1951, the state bought nearly all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5 million (Black Ball retained five vessels of its fleet).^[6] The state government intended to run ferry service only until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved and left the ferries as the only means of crossing for vehicles.^[7]

The new system was operated by the Washington State Toll Bridge Authority, which ordered ten new vessels that could carry 60 to 100 vehicles. A set of revenue bonds were also issued to purchase the 16 vessels and 20 terminals of the Puget Sound Navigational Company for a total of $4.94 million. The ten initial routes were reduced to eight by the end of the year.^[8] A route between Port Townsend and Keystone on Whidbey Island was launched in June 1974 to replace a privately-run service that had lost its franchise.^[9]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, WSF reduced service on most routes and suspended trips to Sidney on the Anacortes–San Juan Islands route. The loss of workers who retired, transferred, or were fired during the pandemic caused delays and trip cancellations as service and ridership began to recover in 2021 and 2022, while vessel replacement also ran behind schedule.^[10] By early 2023, full levels of service were restored on four routes but remained limited across much of the system; the Sidney route is not expected to re-enter service until 2030.^[11] Staffing issues, particularly among ship captains and mates, continue to prevent the full restoration of service on the Seattle–Bremerton and Fauntleroy–Vashon–Southworth routes.^[12] As mitigation for the delay in restoring the Seattle–Bremerton run's second vessel, WSF funded additional trips on the parallel Kitsap Fast Ferries that serves both terminals.^[13]

WSF has 10 routes that serve 20 terminals in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea in Western Washington.^[4] The busiest route is the Seattle–Bainbridge Island ferry, which carried 4.8 million total riders in 2023; the Mukilteo–Clinton ferry carried 2.1 million total vehicles in 2023, the most of any route.^[3][14]

Route name	Terminals				State route designation[15]	Annual ridership[16]	Annual vehicles carried[17]	Notes
Anacortes–Sidney BC (Service suspended)	Sidney, British Columbia	Friday Harbor, San Juan Island		Anacortes	N/A[18]	0	0	Service suspended until 2030 Only route that operated internationally Only route that is not part of state highway system (Friday Harbor-Sidney, BC segment)
Anacortes–San Juan Islands	Friday Harbor, San Juan Island				SR 20 Spur	1,932,543	921,065	Reservations recommended Not all trips serve all island terminals.
	Lopez Island
	Shaw Island
	Orcas Island
Interisland	Friday Harbor, San Juan Island	Orcas Island	Shaw Island	Lopez Island
Port Townsend–Coupeville	Port Townsend			Coupeville, Whidbey Island	SR 20	686,924	316,823	Reservations recommended
Mukilteo–Clinton	Clinton, Whidbey Island			Mukilteo	SR 525	3,687,297	2,105,628
Edmonds–Kingston	Kingston			Edmonds	SR 104	3,542,142	1,799,911
Seattle–Bainbridge Island	Winslow, Bainbridge Island			Seattle (Colman Dock)	SR 305	4,751,576	1,624,900
Seattle–Bremerton	Bremerton				SR 304	952,875	358,846
Fauntleroy–Vashon	Vashon Island			West Seattle (Fauntleroy)	SR 160	2,200,335	1,324,659	All three services operated together as a "triangle route."
Fauntleroy–Southworth	Southworth
Southworth–Vashon	Southworth			Vashon Island
Point Defiance–Tahlequah	Tahlequah, Vashon Island			Tacoma (Point Defiance)	SR 163	907,842	518,542

• Agate Pass, replaced by the Agate Pass Bridge on October 7, 1950^[19]
• Edmonds–Port Ludlow
• Port Gamble–Shine, replaced by South Point route on June 10, 1950^[19]
• Seattle–Suquamish, discontinued on October 1, 1951
• South Point–Lofall, replaced by Hood Canal Bridge in 1961
• Tacoma Narrows, replaced by Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940 but reinstated from 1940 to 1950^[19]

In 2022, Washington State Ferries had an operating budget of $282.5 million and spent approximately $16.47 per passenger trip.^[20] The system has over 1,500 employees, but had had crew shortages in the early 2020s that have led to sailing cancellations and deferred maintenance.^[21] Onboard food service, primarily through the ship galley and vending machines, is operated by contractor Sodexo Live.^[22]

The agency allows weddings and other celebrations to take place on board ferries, as well as the scattering of cremated remains with advance reservations.^[23]

As of 2020^[update], there are 21 ferries in the WSF fleet that serve Puget Sound.^[24] The largest vessels in this fleet carry up to 2500 passengers and 202 vehicles. They are painted in a distinctive white and green trim paint scheme, and feature double-ended open vehicle decks and bridges at each end so that they do not need to turn around.^[25] Most of the ferries feature an outdoor deck with two "pickleforks" where passengers board and disembark the vessel.^[26]

The fleet uses diesel fuel to power its engines and is the largest consumer of diesel fuel in the state government at 19 million gallons used annually prior to 2020;^[27] WSF plans to electrify its fleet over 20 years. By 2040, it intends to build 16 new hybrid-electric vessels and convert six others to have hybrid propulsion. This will reduce carbon emissions by up 180,000 tons annually and save $19 million per year in diesel fuel costs.^[28] The first vessel to undergo conversion to use hybrid-electric propulsion is MV Wenatchee, which will be converted from 2023 to 2024.^[29] The program was originally expected to begin in 2022 with a new boat constructed by Vigor Industrial, but cost overruns and disagreements led to delays. Vigor had been the sole shipbuilder for Washington State Ferries since 1997.^[30] Bids for the hybrid-electric ferries, which will carry 164 vehicles and 1,500 passengers, were opened to non-Washingtonian shipbuilders in 2024 with invitations sent to 15 interested companies.^[27]

As of 2023^[update], 9 of the 21 active ferries maintained by Washington State Ferries are considered to be in good condition. Cancellation of sailings due to mechanical problems and urgent maintenance increased in the 2010s and 2020s.^[30]

The ferry fleet consists of the following vessels:^[24]

Since the beginning of state-run ferry service in 1951, WSF has retired many vessels as they have become older, too expensive to operate or maintain, or have become too small to provide adequate ferry service. WSF owned passenger-only vessels between 1985 and 2009, but after discontinuing its two passenger-only routes in the 2000s, WSF has sold its passenger-only ferries to other operators.

Below is a list of ferries that WSF has retired since 1951. Unless otherwise noted, all vessels introduced in 1951 were acquired from the Puget Sound Navigation Company (PSN), also known as the Black Ball Line, when the state took over the company's routes and ferryboats in Puget Sound.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Washington State Ferries.

• Official website
• Evergreenfleet.com – A History of Washington State Ferries Past and Present
• Vehicle Reservation Predesign Study