WSF Weekly Report | Repairs, replacements; upcoming online meetings; ridership increased almost 1M

||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

A message from Steve

Thanks to the hard work and creative thinking of our employees, we made good progress this week getting our system back on track. We quickly fixed a stern tube problem on Tacoma using an underwater habitat instead of doing repairs in dry dock. The ferry returned to service Monday evening on our Seattle/Bainbridge route. This allowed us to move Kitsap back to our Mukilteo/Clinton route on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Sealth returned as the third boat on our Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route. With these changes, we were able to take Salish to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility for its yearly maintenance and inspection. This work had been delayed earlier this month with several vessels unexpectedly out of service. We have now restored full service on all routes except Seattle/Bremerton.

We worked with Subsea Global Solutions late last week to install an underwater habitat on Tacoma. The habitat was sealed to the hull around the propulsion shaft. Crews filled it with air to push the water out and create a dry workspace underwater. This allowed repairs to the stern tube seal without taking the vessel to dry dock.

From experience, we know more people ride our Seattle/Bremerton route during home Seahawks playoff games. To help handle the holiday weekend crowds, we plan to move Sealth late Friday night from our “Triangle” route, which does not run its third boat on winter weekends. Instead of leaving Sealth tied up at Vashon Island, we will put it into service at Bremerton through at least Monday evening. Until we have enough boats available again for full service systemwide, we will keep reviewing our options and making changes that best balance the needs of all the communities we serve. Consider signing up for our rider alerts – if you’re not already – to receive the latest service updates.

WSF at the table for first-ever Congressional Ferry Caucus meeting

Earlier this week, my deputy, John Vezina, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the first Congressional Ferry Caucus meeting. The bipartisan group launched last summer. Members talked about how the federal government can better support ferry service, terminals, workforce training and keeping skilled workers. We are fortunate that Washington Rep. Emily Randall is one of the caucus’s co-chairs. Many states rely on ferries, but their importance is often only seen locally. This caucus helps raise national awareness that ferries are a vital part of our transportation system. We are thankful for our Washington Congressional delegation and their continued advocacy for federal funds to support our daily operations, and vessel and terminal projects.

Assistant Secretary John Vezina at the U.S. Capitol with Rep. Emily Randall, a longtime advocate for WSF since her time in the state Legislature.

2026 legislative session begins

This year’s 60-day state legislative session kicked off on Monday. Lawmakers will make supplemental adjustments to the 2025-27 enacted budgets and propose new legislation. We’ll be watching the bond bill that supports Gov. Bob Ferguson’s proposed 2026 supplemental budget. His proposal includes funding for up to three new 160-auto hybrid-electric ferries, on top of the three already funded. It also includes $150 million for preservation and maintenance to keep our oldest boats (Tillikum, Kaleetan and Yakima) in service until new vessels arrive. Legislators will release their own budget proposals in late February. We look forward to supporting the governor’s budget plan and answering legislative questions as they work on the transportation budget.

Secretary of Transportation Julie Meredith presented to the House Transportation Committee yesterday on how we can “Keep Washington Moving.” She will speak at 4 p.m. today at the Senate Transportation Committee meeting, where our preservation needs will also be discussed.

6 days to go: Online meetings Wednesday, Jan. 21

We’re a little less than a week out from our online community meetings on Wednesday, Jan. 21. This is your chance to hear about what we accomplished in 2025 and what’s ahead in 2026. We’ll also share the latest on our new vessel construction, terminal upgrades needed for charging, our Service Contingency Plan, workforce development efforts and current budget and legislative outlook. Most of the time will be set aside for questions and discussion. Advance registration is required for the noon and 6 p.m. sessions. You can also submit questions ahead of time by email. If you can’t join live, recordings will be posted the next day on our community participation page on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Both online community meetings will cover the same information.

Vehicle reservations for spring sailing season available at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27

Vehicle reservations for spring (March 22 to June 13) on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes will open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27. To keep the website from getting overloaded, we’ll use a virtual waiting room, just like in past seasonal releases. If you are sent to the waiting room, you’ll see your place in line, the estimated wait time and an option to get a notification when it’s your turn to book.

Spring sailing times on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route will stay the same as fall and winter. We have switched to a single, nine-month “off-peak” schedule. This change comes from community feedback and with support from the governor and Legislature. Photo courtesy Greg Bell.

Apply for schedule update task force for Seattle routes

We’re about to start work on updating the sailing schedules for our Seattle routes. The current timetables for both our Bainbridge and Bremerton runs are outdated. They have caused delays over the past few years. To help with these updates, we are forming a community task force to provide us with input and recommendations on possible changes. The group will look at current schedules, review options and suggest how feedback should be included. Members will also advise on ways to gather and use public comments throughout the process. The task force will meet about once a month on a weekday evening in 2026. Interested community members can apply by 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 2.

Annual ridership increases by nearly 1 million in 2025

A return to full, 18-boat domestic service helped boost our annual ridership to 20.1 million in 2025. That’s nearly 1 million more riders than the year before, a 5% increase. It’s also the first time we topped 20 million since 2019. But we didn’t just run more trips. We added about 7,000 sailings while also having about 400 fewer cancellations than in 2024. Canceled sailings due to crew shortages dropped by almost 70%. That improvement reflects our recent investment in building and supporting our workforce. Read more about 2025 ridership and see route-by-route data in our recent news release.

Foot passengers drove our annual ridership growth, rising 8.6% from 2024. Passengers traveling in vehicles grew 4.3%, while vehicles increased by 3.9%.

2025 Year in Review

We just dropped our 2025 Year in Review (PDF 557KB). Last year, we sailed into exciting new waters. We reached key milestones by giving our customers more reliable service, launched North America’s largest hybrid-electric ferry and charted a course for our future with plans for new vessels. Dive in to see our biggest accomplishments, major milestones and memorable moments from 2025.

Sailing stats for week of Jan. 5-11

For the week of Jan. 5-11, we completed 97% of our 3,003 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 90 cancellations, 49 were due to terminal-related issues, 23 for vessel-related issues, six because of weather, six due to other miscellaneous reasons, four for schedule resets (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers) and two because of tidal currents.

For comparison, during a similar week last year (Jan. 6-12, 2025), we completed 99.4% of our 2,728 scheduled sailings. Of the 18 cancellations that week, 14 were due to tidal currents, two for vessel-related issues, one because of a schedule reset and one due to other miscellaneous reasons.

Customer kudos

“I am writing to compliment the Yakima ferry workers and Anacortes terminal staff who assisted me when I dropped my car keys while running to catch the 4:20 ferry on November 11th. The woman in the kiosk called a ferry worker so I would not miss the boat; but once the boat pulled away, I realized I’d dropped my keys. Two of the staff on the Yakima helped me connect with Alan (Hougen, terminal supervisor) at the Anacortes terminal and he sent someone to search for my keys which I had dropped somewhere between my car in A lot and the terminal. I was so relieved when Alan called me back to tell me he had my keys. So (a) big thank you to those who helped me that day!”

-Anacortes/San Juan Islands route customer