A state transportation panel proposed 3% hikes this year and next, while lawmakers and the governor boosted a surcharge to build boats and added a credit card fee.
||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE STANDARD |||
Travel on a Washington state ferry will cost more this fall and even more next spring.
How much became a little clearer Tuesday when a state transportation panel settled on a course to increase fares by 3% on Oct. 1 and another 3% on May 1, 2026.
The Washington State Transportation Commission also recommended hiking the summer season surcharge to 35% on all routes and, on a trial basis, extending the life of multi-ride passes to 120 days starting next May. They now expire after 90 days.
Public comment on the approach will be accepted online through Aug. 5. A virtual public hearing will be held Aug. 6, with the commission then voting on a final fare hike proposal.
Those increases would be in addition to actions taken earlier this year by state lawmakers and Gov. Bob Ferguson.
They agreed to hike the capital surcharge tacked onto each ticket to $1 starting Oct. 1. It is now 50 cents. The money is used to fund construction of new state ferries.
And they put a provision in the 2025-27 state transportation budget directing Washington State Ferries to levy a new 3% fee on credit card transactions beginning March 1, 2026. Fares paid by credit cards are an estimated 82% of farebox revenue, commission staff said.
State ferries’ staff said they worked to calibrate these changes with the various options they presented to the commission Tuesday.
“This is going to feel like a higher cost to the customer. We were very aware of that. When the customer feels like there is an increase to them, there is a drop in ridership,” Siri Olson, senior manager of financial planning for Washington State Ferries, told commissioners.
Under the transportation budget, Washington State Ferries is required to generate $408.8 million from fares in the next two years to help cover the agency’s day-to-day operating costs.
Fares differ by route as well as vehicle size, number of passengers and the time of year one travels. A surcharge is assessed on the base fare of a single vehicle between May 1 and Sept. 30, which is the peak season for ridership.
Under the current commission proposal, the standard passenger fare on the Mukilteo-Clinton route is expected to increase by 70 cents in October and an additional 15 cents in May 2026. For a standard-sized vehicle, the cost is expected to rise 85 cents in October 2025, and an additional 30 cents next May.
On the Seattle-Bremerton route, the passenger fare is expected to go up by 80 cents in October 2025 and an additional 30 cents next May. For standard vehicles, the increases are expected to be $1.05 in October and another 55 cents in May 2026.
Those estimates, provided by transportation commission staff, include this year’s boost to the vessel replacement surcharge.
Not included are the higher summer season surcharge or the credit card fee, both of which take effect next year. The surcharge will climb by 10% to the new level of 35% for all routes, except San Juan routes, which already have a 35% peak season levy.
“This has been an extremely complex fare-setting process,” said Aaron Halbert, financial analyst for the commission.
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A 35% surcharge during the Summer!?! All us locals better let WSF know what we think about that. It could soon cost $100 to go off island during the summer! Where are all you folks who have great ideas about this? I don’t have a solution to offer but we should try and find a different one.
Hi Clarissa,
To be fair (no pun intended), I believe the 35% summer surcharge is what already exists for the San Juan routes, so that specific point leaves things where they currently stand. It does, however, increase the summer surcharge for other routes by 5% from where they are now.
From the WSF study page:
Fare Baseline + Increase peak season surcharge for all routes by 5% (except San Juan Islands). Peak Season Surcharge would be 30% for all routes and San Juan Islands would remain at 35%.
How about using a tiny fraction — probably less than 1% — of that increase to bring the wages and benefits of island ferry workers up to the standards that apply on the mainland?
I always use a debit card to go to Seattle or elsewhere from Vashon Island, unless I have a pass for certain times of frequent ferry use. I’d like to know if a debit card is treated the same as credit, and would be subject to the 3% fee in the future.