Washington State Ferries - Ridership & capacity utilization


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Measures of Washington State Ferries performance: Ridership & capacity utilization

Ridership & capacity utilization

Ferry ridership is the number of passenger and vehicle trips taken on ferries within a defined time frame (quarterly, annually, etc.), reported system-wide or for specific ferry routes.
Ferry capacity utilization is calculated as the percentage of available vehicle (or passenger) capacity that is used for each trip over all trips on that route for a defined time frame (quarterly, annually, etc.). This information is collected at tickets booth and compared to vessels' capacity.

For details on the methodology used to calculate Washington State Ferries ridership and capacity utilization, see Ferry Performance Analysis methodology (PDF 5.9MB).





Source: Washington State Ferries.

Multi-year trends

In 2022, Washington State Ferries ridership was lower than pre-pandemic level. The significant reduction in Washington State Ferries total ridership in 2021 and 2020 resulted from fewer people traveling due to continuing COVID-19 restrictions and health concerns.

From 2018 to 2022, total ridership decreased by 29.6%, from 24.7 million to 17.4 million. Over the same period, the total number of passengers decreased by 37.0%, the number of walk-on passengers decreased by 52.8%, and the number of vehicles decreased by 20.1%.

Washington State Ferries capacity utilization system-wide for vehicles increased from 59% in 2018 to 60% in 2022, and system-wide capacity utilization for passengers and drivers declined from 12% to 12%. In 2018, some vessels with lower capacity limits were replaced by new vessels with more vehicle and passenger capacity. Additionally, WSF operated on an alternate service plan due to the pandemic and crew shortages. This plan called for fewer vessels serving specific routes, which resulted in a higher capacity utilization on these routes despite ridership decreases. Capacity utilization varies substantially by route. The least capacity-constrained ferry route was Seattle/Bremerton in both years, with 44% vehicle capacity utilization in 2018 and 37% vehicle capacity utilization in 2022. The most capacity-constrained route, Point Defiance/Tahlequah, had 58% of its vehicle capacity utilized in 2018 and 61% utilized in 2022.

Annual highlights

In 2022, systemwide WSF ridership was 17,374,169 up 0.5% from 17,279,879 in 2021. Walk-on passenger ridership was 3,425,945 up 17.8% from 2,907,620 in 2021.

In 2022, the utilization of vehicle spaces on all ferry trips averaged 60%. Vehicle space utilization on individual ferry routes ranged between 37% (Seattle/Bremerton) and 78% (Port Townsend/Coupeville) in 2022.

Ferry route utilization is based on ridership and vessel capacity, and reflects utilization for all sailings over the entire day, not for peak periods as used to track capacity for most other transportation modes. Because ferry vessels can carry many more passengers than vehicles, the passenger utilization rates are lower, ranging from 8% (Point Defiance/Tahlequah) to 17% (Seattle/Bainbridge Island) of the available capacity in 2022.

In 2021, systemwide WSF ridership was 17,279,879, up 23.5% from 13,986,702 in 2020. Walk-on passenger ridership was 2,907,620, up 30.1% from 2,221,290 in 2020.

In 2021, the utilization of vehicle spaces on all ferry trips averaged 59%. Vehicle space utilization on individual ferry routes ranged between 40% (Seattle/Bremerton) and 74% (Port Townsend/Coupeville) in 2021.

Ferry route utilization is based on ridership and vessel capacity, and reflects utilization for all sailings over the entire day, not for peak periods as used to track capacity for most other transportation modes. Because ferry vessels can carry many more passengers than vehicles, the passenger utilization rates are lower, ranging from 8% (Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth) to 15% (Seattle/Bainbridge Island) of the available capacity in 2021.

In 2020, systemwide WSF ridership was 13,986,702, down 41.4% from 23,884,789 in 2019. Walk-on passenger ridership was 2,221,290, down 68.1% from 6,956,139 in 2019.

In 2020, the utilization of vehicle spaces on all ferry trips averaged 49%. Vehicle space utilization on individual ferry routes ranged between 32% (Seattle/Bremerton) and 67% (Port Townsend/Coupeville) in 2020.

Ferry route utilization is based on ridership and vessel capacity, and reflects utilization for all sailings over the entire day, not for peak periods as used to track capacity for most other transportation modes. Because ferry vessels can carry many more passengers than vehicles, the passenger utilization rates are lower, ranging from 7% (Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth) to 12% (Anacortes/San Juan/Sidney) of the available capacity in 2020.

In 2019, systemwide WSF ridership was 23,884,789, down 3.2% from 24,687,038 in 2018. Walk-on passenger ridership was 6,956,139, down 4.1% from 7,256,372 in 2018.

In 2019, the utilization of vehicle spaces on all ferry trips averaged 59%, the same as in 2018. Vehicle space utilization on individual ferry routes ranged between 42% (Seattle/Bremerton) and 77% (Port Townsend/Coupeville) in 2019.

Ferry route utilization is based on ridership and vessel capacity, and reflects utilization for all sailings over the entire day, not for peak periods as used to track capacity for most other transportation modes. Because ferry vessels can carry many more passengers than vehicles, the passenger utilization rates are lower, ranging from 9% (Point Defiance/Tahlequah) to 18% (Anacortes/San Juan/Sidney, B.C.) of the available capacity in 2019.

In 2018, systemwide WSF ridership was 24,687,038, up 1% from 24,460,045 in 2017. Walk-on passenger ridership was 7,256,372, up 1.2% from 7,170,233 in 2017.

In 2018, the utilization of vehicle spaces on all ferry trips averaged 59%, two percentage point lower than in 2017. Vehicle space utilization on individual ferry routes ranged between 44% (Seattle/Bremerton) and 77% (Port Townsend/Coupeville) in 2018.

Ferry route utilization is based on ridership and vessel capacity, and reflects utilization for all sailings over the entire day, not for peak periods as used to track capacity for most other transportation modes. Because ferry vessels can carry many more passengers than vehicles, the passenger utilization rates are lower, ranging from 8% (Point Defiance/Tahlequah) to 15% (Anacortes/San Juan/Sidney, B.C.) of the available capacity in 2018.

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