Washington State Ferries

Washington State Ferries operates the largest ferry system in the United States, with 21 ferries that travel across Puget Sound and the greater Salish Sea. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, WSF carried approximately 24 million people annually to 20 different ports of call: 19 ferry terminals in Washington and one stop in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. In 2021, ridership decreased to 17 million due to the effects of the pandemic. WSF has not provided service to Sidney, British Columbia, Canada since the pandemic.

WSF's nine ferry service routes act as a marine highway for businesses, tourists and daily commuters. Seven of the nine ferry routes are served by multiple vessels operating simultaneously to keep terminal wait times low. Ferry system performance tracks measures such as annual ridership, trip reliability and utilization.

Note: Service levels and routes above were based on pre-COVID 19 data and reflect annual averages and route information.

Multi-year trends

Ridership & capacity utilization:

• Total ferry ridership decreased by 21.8% from 23.9 million in 2019 to 18.7 million in 2023.
• Over the same period, the number of walk-on passengers decreased by 20.1% and the number of vehicles decreased by 14.2%
• Capacity utilization system-wide for vehicles increased from 59% in 2019 to 61% in 2023
• System-wide capacity utilization over the same period for passengers and drivers declined from 12% to 11%

On-time performance & completed sailings:

• On-time performance declined 6.9% from 90.0% in 2019 to 83.1% in 2023
• Completed sailings declined from 2.2% from 99.4% in 2019 to 97.2% in 2023