Research Paper

NOTE: Some information may have changed since the creation of this document.

The first thing to know is what the issues actually are with the ferries. One issue is how the ferries are late. Many routes can have significantly late sailings. In August of this year, out of 2,217 sailings, only 47.5% of sailings were less than 10 minutes late for the Anacortes+San Juan Island routes! That means less than half of the sailings are within 10 minutes of leaving on time, totaling over a thousand were late in just one month for just one route. As for Vashon-Fauntleroy, in the last 12 months from November 2024 to November 2025, 82.5% of sailings were on time, an increase, but still 1 in 5 sailings. In the whole year of 2017, there was a 90% on time rate per sailing, meaning 1/10 sailings were late, much better than now. (WSDOT On-Time Performance Report).

Another issue with the ferries is how they are understaffed. Many crew members have become eligible to retire in the last few years. Many did not want to work during Covid, shortening the staff even more. 74% of the Masters and Staff Masters are eligible to retire, as well as 29% of the Chief Mates, 17% of the Second Mate, 17% of the Licensed Engineers, and 53% of the Chief Engineers. Training takes the right people and a good amount of time, meaning that sailings will be cancelled if there is not training being done. The biggest problem was that if even one crew member was out, the whole sailing would be cancelled (McNichols). 

The ferries are also expensive. Prices rose by 3% on Oct. 1st and will again on May 1 2026. Also on this date, 10 pass expiration will increase from 90 to 120 days. The price is currently $20 on a discount (10-pass)! The BC Ferries are mainly upwards from $79 for a family of four in a car. This is expensive, but there are many amenities included with the service like dining, lounges, cafes, workstations, kid play areas, pets, and more. In addition, they are new and look like mini cruise ships, compared to the WSF’s older ships. The prices are rising, but the service is still bad.

Another big issue is cancellations and infrequency. One reason for this is the crew members out, another is from something like Covid happening. One of the biggest reasons, though, is the aging fleet. The average boat age is 39 years. When the goal for lifespan is 60 years they are approaching the end of their lifespan fast, and some are already past! Especially the Issaquah Class (124-car ferries, the size that mainly serves our north end routes) have been needed for use so much that they cannot get the repair time they need, and they will retire 10 years earlier than planned. Many times, an elevator is out or there is some issue with the aging fleet that a ferry gets removed from service. Then, they take a boat from a route with less traffic, cancel it, and send it up to fill in for the out-of-service boat. In 2023 alone, over 4,000 sailings were cancelled, compared to 1,711 in 2019. Vessels also eat gallons of diesel per minute, and cause lots of emissions to be released into the air, which is very bad for the environment. The sailings are infrequent sometimes, in the night is understandable, but to leave the island is always a large gap from mid to late afternoon to Fauntleroy, many times with smaller boats that will not capacitate the entire queue for West Seattle. (McNichols).

What causes these problems? In 1999, Voter Initiative 695 was approved, revoking the motor vehicle excise tax which provided billions to the WSF system; From this point on, the system spiraled into trouble. Covid happened just as training new crew members to fill in for the retiring ones, as well as when the fleet needed many new boats to be made. Covid happened at probably the worst possible time for the ferry system (McNichols). Every so often, a ferry gets into an accident. This costs millions of dollars and keeps one boat off the water more than needed. Since 1980, there have been 14 major mishaps, the most recent being the Cathlamet, or as some people like to call it, the ‘Crash-Lamet’ or ‘Can’t-land-it’ crashing into a dolphin (the pilings helping guide the ferry into landing with all of the stickers on them) at the Fauntleroy Dock. This cost the system millions of dollars. 

Another problem is ambulances. A few select vehicles get priority: motorcycles, vanpools and metro vehicles, police, and fire department vehicles. Ambulances need this most and hold ferries for ambulances, as there is no suitable emergency treatment on island. Ambulances will hold boats, which may cause delays.

         The commuter sailings are in the cold, early mornings. This could cause a dead battery ending in significant and accumulated delays.

What are the consequences of these problems? Many people become late for work, or can’t get home, commuting students may not make it across the route, and especially with islands like Vashon and the San Juans, moving resources into the islands is mainly through the system. Food, wood, parts, nearly all goes in through a boat. If there is an emergency, the ferry system is vital to get people the help they need quickly. Supplies usually come in big trucks at the earliest or latest sailings of the day. The San Juans does not have very early sailings, so trucks quickly fill up in the commuter sailings. In general, these issues cause anxiety. (McNichols) Many times, people need to get home for something, but realize there is a two hour gap before the next ferry, so they have to cut short their day to leave early and wait for a sailing. For example, with the San Juans and Anacortes, if you are going westbound from Friday Harbor and are trying to go to Lopez Island and miss the 8:45, the next sailing off the island is at 10:20 which doesn’t even stop at Lopez. The next does, though, which is at 11:30, getting you to Lopez at around 1:30. This means that you would be arriving over three hours late. If you were trying to leave early to go on a trip or shopping or just off of Orcas Island (the biggest of the three WSF-served islands in the San Juans), the earliest of the morning would be at 7:40 with a limited vehicle load from other terminals as well! At most times, the smallest boat of the fleet, the size of the Pt. Defiance-Talequah route, holding 62 cars would be taking two dozen cars, or less with trucks delivering goods, at the earliest of the morning; furthermore, there are no reservations to Anacortes/the mainland from Lopez, which means vehicles need to arrive very early for sailings like the 2:00PM taking only 8 cars. If you were from the mainland and were spending time with friends or family on Lopez, if you missed a boat at 8:20PM (meaning being there early to queue), there would be no boat until 6:25 AM for walk-ons, or 6:45 for drive-ons. Just to go shopping takes the entire day for many places. There were 2.3 million riders in 2024 on the Fauntleroy-Southworth-Vashon route alone. Due to the shortage of crew and vessels, the system closed an entire route from 2020, and it will not reopen until at least 2030, this being from Anacortes to Sidney, B.C. (Anderson). 

What has the system done recently to help address these problems? One recent big change was the conversion of the Wenatchee ferry (not going to Wenatchee, it’s just the name). This has been converted to being hybrid, and now it doesn’t need as much diesel to power. Unfortunately, there are some downsides. First of all, it has already had multiple engine failures while in service, cancelling and delaying sailings. Also, it stays out of service for many months. In addition, it has to be charged, and the terminals are not converted to charge the vessel, so it can only serve at a few terminals to be charged. The Wenatchee is the second largest ferry. The two largest, tied in size, are the Tacoma and Puyallup. These serve mainly Bainbridge-Seattle-Bremerton and Edmonds-Kingston. They will be converted, but the World Cup has delayed their conversion because it takes so long and traffic will be many times worse without them in service (Anderson). Boats currently range from 7 to 66 years old. In 2015, the fleet was a total of 24, but five have been retired since: The Klahowya, Elwha, Hyak, and two others. Three have been added: The Suquamish, Chimacum, and Samish. (Long Range Plan)

What are plans for change with the ferry system? Recently, the system has begun work with a shipbuilding company in Florida to make new boats, Eastern Shipbuilding. They will build 3 hybrid-electric vessels, holding 160 vehicles (vs most commonly 124 car vessels serving the north end). This is the first competitive ferry bid for construction in over 25 years for the WSF system. Being the nation’s largest ferry system, new state-of-the art technology is needed. This is being added to these new boats, and will mainly be for shoreside recharging and battery storage to cut down on diesel emissions. They will have a speed of 17 knots at a full load and will interface with all of the current docks. Between now and 2040, 13 vessels are at, past, or approaching the end of their lifespan. These are mainly 124-car Issaquah Vessels. These commonly serve the north-end of the island, as well as other places. 16 new vessels are to be completed by 2040. Electrification at terminals is planned and will take place until 2027. The Chetzemoka, at the south end, is generally on the newer side and will be converted to hybrid-electric in 2031. For Point Defiance, there are plans to add terminal electrification, preservation, and improve the terminal to reduce cars queuing on Pearl Street. (WSF Executive Summary). A full system is currently 21 vessels with 18 operating at a time to account for maintenance. There are plans for a 26-ferry fleet by 2040 (McNichols).

Fortunately, the plans are good, like changing the docks at Eagle Harbor (The main maintenance facility for the ferries next to Bainbridge Island Dock). The Bainbridge-Bremerton-Seattle routes always have a few of the biggest five vessels, but they cannot even fit at the maintenance facility; instead, they must be dry-docked by the Port of Seattle for repairs. Because the Issaquah Class has been needed so much, they have not been able to reach their proper maintenance time, and will be retired 10 years early at around 50 years old instead of the planned 60. There will be approximately 11.5% increase in riders until 2040. 

For terminal conversion and restoration, one of the most important terminals is Eagle Harbor; it is to be preserved until at least 2040. For 2040, 17 terminals are proposed to be electrified. The EV charging triangle for dropping off passengers is very small at the Fauntleroy dock, and the dock itself cannot even hold a full load of cars. WSF began planning for the modification of the Fauntleroy dock to address traffic in December of 2025, which will be helpful with the 2.3 million riders/year. This should also help for when they return the triangle route to a 3 boat schedule. The website is to be improved as well to help get automated and real-time travel info. Public Wi-Fi will be implemented for travelers. There have even been plans to have automatic vehicle passenger counting to automatically detect the number of passengers to allow prepaid vehicles to drive directly onto the ferry. Transit, pedestrian, and bike travel from terminals is to be improved, as well as pickup and dropoff areas. There are plans along with the vessel conversion to create less emissions. We are at the beginning of a zero-emission fleet for the future (WSF 2040 Long Range Plan).

What can we do to help fix these problems or make workarounds until they are addressed? One main way is to join the FROG (Ferry Riders Opinion Group) and fill out surveys. There are other surveys, but I think this is one of the most popular with the most accurate data. One sample is from March 26 to April 16 of 2025, where 3,202 riders were interviewed. As for the overall satisfaction, 69% are somewhat satisfied, compared to 54% in 2024, and 58% in 2023. Only 21% are dissatisfied overall. FVS has actually seen the most increase in satisfaction, and only one route had a decrease, being Mukilteo-Clinton. This may be because of the recent dock changes (FROG). For workarounds, one way is the Water Taxis. They are fairly consistent, they are clean, and they are fast; unfortunately, they still have downsides. They are not overly consistent so they do not cover for great timing throughout the day. They also are only for foot and bike traffic, so cars have to go through the normal WSF system to get off the island. Another workaround is carpooling or buses. You can join with friends or family in one car to ensure you make the ferry; This is good because you get to spend time and get to know people while making it easier to get the ferry. It may get cramped, but it is a good workaround for getting off and on the island. Buses are also an option, but are not too consistent either and have very limited coverage across the island. Planning ahead and getting to the terminal early is a good way to make the boat you are targeting, or even an earlier one. The problem with this is that you are just waiting and lose a large chunk of time just to get home. Motorcycles get priority loading as well, which lets you skip the line; unfortunately, there is barely any space for storage or anything on motorcycles.

A way to plan ahead is to check the real-time-map on the WSF site to see how late the boats are currently, and check the alerts page to see if there are any changes to timing, boats, schedules, or any other issues. You can also give feedback about the website to see what they can improve. One thing that I think they can do is the real-time-map which is very old and hard to interact with. There is an alternative: The WSDOT App. Many islanders and travelers use this instead of the site, but there are also some things that could be improved. Alerts do not always affect the schedule, and it does not tell you what boat is taking that sailing. This means that, although it is a better option, with the current state of the vessel reliability, people want to double-check that the vessel they are planning on riding on is not late. Boats are really the only way off of the island (other than airplanes), so until the WSF system is fixed, these workarounds will be very helpful. Around every 3 months, WSF has a community meeting for anyone to ask questions or get informed about changes and give comments. This is a good opportunity to find out more about the system and how they work directly with people working for WSF.

By Garrett Dorr, Harbor School, 2025-'26