This article is about the ferry system operated on Puget Sound by the state of Washington. For ferry systems in Washington state operated by other entities, see Ferries in Washington (state).
The ferry system carried a total of 19.15million riders in 2024—10.08million passengers and 9.07million 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 40,100 per weekday in the first quarter of 2025.[2]
History
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 sought to increase its fares by 30percent to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers' unions, which had agreed to a voluntary freeze in increases during World War II. After the state government rejected the fare hike, the company shut down service for nine days in protest.[6] In 1951, the state bought nearly all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5million (Black Ball retained five vessels of its fleet). Washington State Ferries began operation on June 1, 1951.[7] 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.[8]
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 $4.94million. The ten initial routes were reduced to eight by the end of the year.[9] 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.[10] The Toll Bridge Authority was dissolved and replaced by the consolidated Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on September 21, 1977.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13] Staffing issues, particularly among ship captains and mates, continued to prevent the full restoration of service on the Seattle–Bremerton and Fauntleroy–Vashon–Southworth routes.[14] 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.[15] The second vessel on the Seattle–Bremerton route was restored in June 2025, followed a month later by weekend trips on the Port Townsend–Coupeville route to bring the system to its pre-pandemic domestic schedule.[16][17]
Routes
A map showing the routes operated by Washington State Ferries (in red) in comparison with Washington State highways (in yellow) and freeways, including Washington State and Interstate highways (in blue)
WSF has 10 routes that serve 20 terminals in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea in Western Washington.[4] The network spans 185.20 miles (298.05km) and serves an estimated population of 3.9million residents across an area of 1,945 square miles (5,040km2).[1] The busiest route is the Seattle–Bainbridge Island ferry, which carried 4.9million total riders in 2024; the Mukilteo–Clinton ferry carried 2.1million total vehicles in 2024, the most of any route.[3][18]
In 2023, Washington State Ferries had an operating budget of $338.2million and spent approximately $18.54 per passenger trip. The active ferries traveled a total of 755,025 miles (1,215,095km) in revenue service and carried a total of 18.2million unlinked passenger trips.[1] 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.[22] Onboard food service, primarily through the ship galley and vending machines, is operated by contractor Sodexo Live.[23]
The primary maintenance facility for the system is at Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, just west of the city's ferry terminal. WSF built its Eagle Harbor facility in 1962 and uses it to also store unused or recently retired vessels.[24][25] WSF also has other shops on Bainbridge Island, including in-house carpenters that maintain and repair fixtures aboard ferries as well as at terminals, including windows, floors, and cables.[26] Outside contractors also conduct maintenance and rehabilitation work on ferries, including those on Lake Union in Seattle that are accessed through the Lake Washington Ship Canal.[27]
The agency allows weddings and other celebrations to take place on board ferries with advance reservations.[28] The scattering of cremated remains at sea is performed board state ferries with permission from WSF, who charge a fee of $150 and require the use of a biodegradable container or vessel. The ceremonies, scheduled outside of peak travel periods, take place during a temporary stop and are followed by an announcement and the sounding of the ferry's whistle. In 2024, a total of 190 memorials were performed aboard WSF vessels.[29]
Fleet
Washington State Ferry TacomaThe Hyak in Rich Passage heading to Bremerton, WAThe MV Chimacum arrives in Seattle for the first time with passengers on board, on May 24, 2017.MV Puyallup departing Seattle with the city skyline in the background.
As of 2020[update], there are 21 ferries in the WSF fleet that serve Puget Sound.[30] The average age is 32.1years old.[1] 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.[31] Most of the ferries feature an outdoor deck with two "pickleforks" where passengers board and disembark the vessel.[32] After 50 years of state service, a ferry receives a commemorative gold stripe that is painted on the center stack.[33]
The fleet uses diesel fuel to power its engines and is the largest consumer of diesel fuel in the state government at 19million gallons used annually prior to 2020;[34] 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 $19million per year in diesel fuel costs.[35]
The first vessel to undergo conversion to use hybrid-electric propulsion is MVWenatchee, which is expected to return to service in summer 2025.[36][37] 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.[38] Further work on converting the existing fleet was delayed by Washington governor Bob Ferguson in early 2025 in favor of restoring service on the routes. The next conversion is scheduled for after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[39]
In 2021, WSF released their plan to move to hybrid electric vessels by building a new 144-car Olympic-class ferry, which they initially scheduled to complete by 2025.[40] The new vessel, named MVWishkah, was later delayed to 2027 and will require the installation of electrical connections at the Clinton ferry terminal on Whidbey Island.[41] An invitation for bids for three hybrid electric vessels was opened by WSF in May 2024 and sent to 15 interested companies.[34][42] Three shipyards were qualified to bid, but WSF only received bids from two: Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Florida, and Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland, Washington. Eastern's $714.5million bid to build three vessels was selected by the state government in July 2025 and will comprise the first WSF vessels built outside of Washington state in 50 years. The three vessels, planned to begin delivery as soon as 2029, will use a design based on the Olympic class and would have an electric propulsion system supplied by ABB. These ferries are planned to be 405 feet (123m) long with a capacity of 1,500 passengers and 164 vehicles.[43]
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.[38]
The ferry fleet consists of the following vessels:[30]
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.
↑ Washington State Department of Transportation (2014). Washington State Highways, 2014–2015(PDF) (Map). 1:842,000. Olympia: Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
Italics denote lines or services which are planned, under construction, defunct, or otherwise not operating at the present time.
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