Washington State Ferries


Washington State Ferries 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 23 vessels, carrying 24.2 million passengers in 2016., it was the largest ferry operator in the United States, and the fourth-largest ferry system in the world.

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 and the Kitsap County Transportation Company. A strike in 1935 forced the KCTC to close, leaving only the Black Ball Line.
Toward the end of the 1940s the Black Ball Line wanted to increase its fares, to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers' unions, but the state refused to allow this, and so the Black Ball Line shut down. In 1951, the state bought nearly all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5 million. The state intended to run ferry service only until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved, and the Washington State Department of Transportation runs the system to this day.
In 2017, the Senate Labor, Commerce and Sports Committee held a fact finding hearing in Olympia in response to a report from KING-TV which analyzed the past five years of WSF financial data obtained through a request for public records. Transportation officials issued a statement saying, "the cash-strapped ferry system was cutting out excessive forms of compensation for many of its workers and saving millions of tax dollars in the process," while KING 5 Investigators showed WSF has been spending more on labor costs every year since 2012. Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, chair of the committee, said, "the most troubling portion of the report centered on how types of compensation that were eliminated by the legislature and WSF management were quietly added back on, which led to the soaring labor costs." Baumgartner stated plans to introduce legislation that would make negotiating contracts an open process in the future. He cited a conflict of interest in the current protocol as labor unions are perennial supporters of the governor.

Routes

Fleet

, there are 21 ferries on Puget Sound operated by the state. 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.
The ferry fleet consists of the following vessels:
Ferry NameClassYear Built Auto CapacityPassenger CapacitySpeed Notes
Evergreen State1959 87106113
Super1967 144200017
Super1967 144200017
Jumbo1972 188200018
Jumbo1973 188200018
Issaquah 1301979 124120016Auto capacity increased in 1989.
Issaquah 1301980 124120016Auto capacity increased in 1992.
Issaquah 1301980 124120016Auto capacity increased in 1990.
Issaquah 1301981 124120016Auto capacity increased in 1993.
Issaquah 1301981 124107616Upgraded to meet SOLAS standards for Sidney, BC route in 2005.
Auto capacity increased in 2001.
Issaquah 100198290120016
Jumbo Mark II1997202250018
Jumbo Mark II1998202250018
Jumbo Mark II1999202250018
Kwa-di Tabil20106475015
Kwa-di Tabil20116475015
Kwa-di Tabil20116475015
Olympic2014144150017
Olympic2015144150017
Olympic2017144150017
Olympic2018144150017

Retired vessels

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, also known as the Black Ball Line, when the state took over the company's routes and ferryboats in Puget Sound.
Ferry NameClassYear Built Year in serviceYear RetiredAuto CapacityPassenger CapacityNotes
-1900 1951196452950Converted to a car ferry in 1926
-19131951196740453Previously owned by King County and used on Lake Washington
-19221951196950659Purchased by PSN in 1941
-19221951195855468Purchased by PSN in 1941
-1923 1951195133312
Anderson19251951196132325
-1925 1951196730300Purchased by the state in 1947
Wood Electric19261951197250770Purchased by PSN in 1940
-1926 195119671101943Originally built as MV Peralta in 1926; rebuilt as Kalakala in 1935 using Peraltas hull
Steel Electric192719511967901500Purchased by PSN in 1940 and converted to a single-ended ferry
Steel Electric192719511967901500Purchased by PSN in 1940 and converted to a single-ended ferry
Wood Electric19271951197350400Purchased by PSN in 1938
Steel Electric1927 1951200759616Purchased by PSN in 1940
Steel Electric1927 1951200759616Purchased by PSN in 1940
Steel Electric1927 1951200759616Purchased by PSN in 1940
Steel Electric1927 1951200764412Purchased by PSN in 1940
Wood Electric19281951197250601Purchased by PSN in 1940
-19291951196932465Operated under a state contract since 1940 after the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed
Anderson19301951198050646
-19381954199355605Purchased by WSF in 1954
-1947 1954201248546Purchased by WSF in 1954, sold to Atlantic Capes Fisheries in 2013
Evergreen State1954 1954201687854
-19541970198265350Purchased by WSF in 1970, sold in 1982 and renamed
Evergreen State1958 1958201787792
Super1966196720191442000
-19671967201634199
Super1967 196820201441069Upgraded to meet SOLAS standards for Sidney, BC.
-1985198520030250Operating as M/V Glacier Express in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska as of 2013
Skagit/Kalama1989198920090230Sold in 2011
Skagit/Kalama1989198920090230Sold in 2011; capsized on July 18, 2012
Passenger-Only Fast Ferry1998199820080350Sold to Golden Gate Ferries, renamed MV Golden Gate
Passenger-Only Fast Ferry1999199920080350Sold to Golden Gate Ferries, renamed MV Napa

Other ferries

There are several other publicly operated, private, and passenger-only ferries in Washington state.