Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals located around Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands, designated as part of the state highway system. The agency maintains the largest fleet of ferries in the United States at 21 vessels. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 17,375,400, or about 39,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023. As of 2016, it was the largest ferry operator in the United States and the second-largest vehicular ferry system in the world.
State Route 104 (SR 104) is a 31.75-mile-long (51.10 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving four counties: Jefferson on the Olympic Peninsula, Kitsap on the Kitsap Peninsula, and Snohomish and King in the Puget Sound region. It begins south of Discovery Bay at U.S. Route 101 (US 101) and crosses the Hood Canal Bridge over Hood Canal to the terminus of SR 3 near Port Gamble. SR 104 continues southeast onto the Edmonds–Kingston Ferry to cross the Puget Sound and intersects SR 99 and Interstate 5 (I-5) before ending at SR 522 in Lake Forest Park. SR 104 also has a short spur route that connects the highway to SR 99 at an at-grade signal on the Snohomish–King county line.
The MV Cathlamet is an Issaquah-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries.
The MV Sealth is a Issaquah-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. She is named for Chief Sealth. The Sealth underwent cabin rebuilding in last 2006, after which she was in service on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route. The Sealth was then the #2 vessel on the route. Earlier she was taken out of service due to a seam needing weld repairs.
The MV Evergreen State is a decommissioned Evergreen State-class ferry that was operated by Washington State Ferries from 1954 to 2015.
The MV Hiyu was a ferry boat operated by Washington State Ferries. Originally built in 1967 to replace an earlier ferry, it was used on the Point Defiance–Tahlequah route during its early years. Upon its retirement in 2016, it was the smallest ferry in the fleet, with a capacity of 34 cars and 200 passengers, and a length of 162 feet (49 m).
MV Kalama was a Skagit Kalama-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF). Skagit and Kalama were constructed in 1989 at Halter Marine in New Orleans, Louisiana. Along with Skagit, she operated the Seattle-Vashon Island passenger-only service. In 2006 WSF was directed to end its passenger-only service, and in 2011 Kalama and Skagit were sold. The vessels were transported to Tanzania to provide service between the mainland and Zanzibar.
MV Skagit was a Skagit Kalama-class passenger ferry originally operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF) from 1989–2009 and then in Tanzania until her sinking in Zanzibar in July 2012.
MV Kitsap is an Issaquah-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. The Kitsap was built in 1980 as an Issaquah class and upgraded in 1992 moving it to the Issaquah 130 class due to adding an upper car deck. The vessel also received interior upgrades. The vessel used to have a rainbow color of blue, but has since been renovated with interior colors light, and dark blue, and dark green.
The MV Klahowya is an Evergreen State-class ferry that was operated by Washington State Ferries.
The Skagit / Kalama-class ferries were high-speed passenger vessels built for Washington State Ferries (WSF) in 1989. The MV Skagit and MV Kalama were the only ferries in this class.
The M/V Kitsap was a ferry built in 1925 at the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington. She was 165 feet (50 m) long, and her original capacity in 1925 was 95 cars and approximately 800 passengers. By 1960, cars had become much bigger and her capacity was reduced to 32 modern automobiles and 325 passengers. A 600-horsepower Estep diesel engine allowed her to sail at 12 knots when originally built. Almost every part of her was from Washington state; her hull and superstructure were built from Washington-grown fir, and her Estep engine was built in at Washington Iron Works in Tacoma.
State Route 163 (SR 163) is a 3.37-mile-long (5.42 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway serves the city of Tacoma and the community of Ruston in Pierce County before traveling via a ferry route to the community of Tahlequah on Vashon Island in King County. SR 163 begins at an interchange with SR 16 in Tacoma and travels north as Pearl Street through Ruston to Point Defiance, where the designation continues onto the MV Chetzemoka ferry to Tahlequah.
State Route 160 (SR 160) is a 7.47-mile-long (12.02 km) long state highway serving Kitsap and King counties in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway begins at an interchange with SR 16 in Port Orchard and travels east to the Southworth ferry terminal, where the route continues onto a ferry to Vashon Heights, the former southern terminus of SR 339, and further east to end at the Fauntleroy ferry terminal in Seattle.
Kwa-di Tabil-class ferries, were built for Washington State Ferries to replace the retired Steel Electric-class ferries. The vessels serve lower traffic routes and carry up to 64 vehicles. The State of Washington spent approximately $213 million to construct the three ferries in this class.
State Route 305 (SR 305) is a 13.50-mile-long (21.73 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, primarily serving Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County and connecting it to Seattle in King County via the Seattle–Bainbridge Island ferry. The highway travels north through Bainbridge Island and leaves the island on the Agate Pass Bridge into the Kitsap Peninsula. SR 305 continues northwest through Poulsbo, intersecting SR 307 and ending at the SR 3 freeway. The highway was created during the 1964 highway renumbering and was preceded by Secondary State Highway 21A (SSH 21A), established in 1937. The ferry, part of the highway since 1994, is served by the Jumbo Mark-II-classMV Tacoma and MV Wenatchee and operates on a 35-minute crossing time.
State Route 339 (SR 339) is a 8.5-nautical-mile-long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It is designated on a former state-run ferry route that connected Vashon Island's Vashon Heights ferry terminal to downtown Seattle's Pier 50, via a passenger-only ferry, the MV Skagit. The ferry was financed by the King County Ferry District (KCFD) and tolls collected at Pier 50. Despite being part of the KCFD, the ferry was operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF). SR 339 was one of only four ferry routes providing access to and from Vashon Island, and had the lowest annual average ridership of the four routes. The state of Washington took over the operation of the ferry route in 1951, and designated it SR 339 in 1994. The ferry was discontinued in 2006 and was replaced by a King County Water Taxi route.
The MV Kulshan was a passenger ferry operated by the Washington State ferry system on Puget Sound from 1970 to 1982.
MV Chetzemoka is a Kwa-di Tabil-class ferry built at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington for the Washington State Ferries. It was scheduled to start on the Port Townsend-Coupeville (Keystone) route in September 2010, but sea trials revealed excessive vibrations in the vessel's propulsion system. The ferry was christened by Governor Christine Gregoire and began service November 14, 2010.
The Point Defiance–Tahlequah ferry is a ferry route across Puget Sound between the Point Defiance ferry terminal in Tacoma and Tahlequah, Washington, on the southern tip of Vashon Island. Since 1951 the only ferries employed on the route have belonged to the Washington state ferry system, currently the largest ferry system in the United States. Point Defiance-Tahlequah is the shortest route in the system.
United States 