State ferry ridership declined in 2019, fast ferries see an increase

After setting ridership records for the past several years, the number of riders on state ferry routes dropped by 800,000 in 2019, the first time in seven years that the system hasn’t seen growth.

Washington State Ferries served 23.9 million riders last year, a decline of about 3.2% from a peak of 24.7 million in 2018, according to numbers released this week. State ferry officials attributed lower ridership to February 2019’s record-breaking snowstorm, ongoing construction at Colman Dock and downtown Seattle, and increased ferry and transit options in the Puget Sound.  

“We’ve had kind of near-record years for the last several years,” WSF spokesman Ian Sterling said. “To see a small drop is not shocking, and remove the snowstorm from that and it would be an even smaller drop.”

The largest decline happened on the Bremerton-Seattle route, where ridership dropped 15% last year. Bainbridge Island-Seattle, the busiest route in the system, saw a 2% drop, while Kingston-Edmonds dropped by about 2.5%.

More:A look at Kitsap's growth over the decade

The Triangle Route between Fauntleroy, Vashon Island and Southworth decreased 2.6% as a whole. However, the Southworth-Vashon leg increased 5%, the largest jump across the ferry system. 

The only routes that did not decline were Tahlequah-Point Defiance, Port Townsend-Coupeville, and lines connecting Sidney, British Columbia. 

February’s storm had a clear impact on ridership, amounting to more than a third of the year-to-year-decline in ridership, according to a news release from WSF. Average daily ridership is usually 50,000-60,000 during the winter, and many days during that period saw 10,000 riders on average.

The snow was a major reason for the implementation of new severe weather schedules, WSF Assistant Secretary Amy Scarton said in the release. The new schedule was tested for the first time this week on routes serving Anacortes.

“Following all that snow, we re-evaluated our storm plan to provide appropriate service that matches demand,” Scarton said. “We recently released new severe weather schedules that align with other reduced transit. We’ll let our customers know if and when we switch over to them through our ferry alerts and social media channels.”

Construction on the new ferry terminal at Colman Dock, as well as the tearing down of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and other projects in downtown Seattle, may also have affected ridership, Sterling said.

In Kitsap, the growth of the fast ferry system appears to have played a role in the drop.

The Bremerton fast ferry carried 301,531 riders last year, a 7% increase from 2018. That came as the WSF Bremerton-Seattle route saw around 432,700 fewer riders, with foot passengers constituting nearly 80% of the decrease. 

The Kingston fast ferry saw 175,405 riders in its first full year of operation, though the new service appears to have had less of an impact on the WSF Edmonds-Kingston route. 

The WSF Edmonds-Kingston route saw about 104,300 fewer riders, though vehicle passengers represented most of the drop. There were actually around 6,200 more foot passengers on the Edmonds-Kingston route last year, despite the Kingston Fast Ferry service.

Kitsap Transit’s systemwide growth was helped by the launch of fast ferry service from Kingston in November 2018 and a schedule change in May 2018 that replaced two mid-day sailings with afternoon and evening trips that were more popular with riders, according to a statement.

Transit officials also cited a four-week period last year where the agency tested two-boat service as a factor in ridership increase.

Officials from both Kitsap Transit and WSF said it’s likely the growing fast ferry service had an effect on state ferry ridership in 2019, but the extent of that impact is still unclear. 

“It’s a little hard to really try and determine that at this point,” Kitsap Transit executive director John Clauson said. “(There have) been so many variables that have been going on that would have an effect on both our ridership.”

Kitsap Transit plans to add another fast ferry route from Southworth to Seattle this year and is working with WSF to negotiate a schedule and dock space at the terminal there.

The agencies have also been working together to fill schedule gaps because of the construction at Colman Dock. Since Jan. 4, WSF has been reduced to using one slip for both the Bremerton and Bainbridge Island routes. Kitsap Transit responded by adding two additional afternoon fast ferry sailings.

WSF still projects ridership to grow to nearly 32 million a year by 2040. The agency’s long-range plan calls for 16 new vessels to be built over the next 20 years to keep pace with demand. The fast ferry gives Kitsap riders another option to get to Seattle, Sterling said.

“This isn’t competition for us,” Sterling said. “We see it as a good thing.”