SEATTLE — Editor's note: The above video was published earlier this month.
The Washington State Ferries (WSF) saw ridership decrease by 3.2% in 2019, blamed in part on February’s snowstorm, ongoing waterfront construction and alternative ferry service from Kitsap Transit.
The agency counted 23.9 million passengers in 2019, which is down about 800,000 people from 2018.
More than a third of the year-to-year decline came during the February snowstorm, Washington State Ferries said. During that time, there was an average of 10,000 ferry passengers a day, compared to the typical 50,000 to 60,000 average daily winter riders.
“Following all that snow, we reevaluated our storm plan to provide appropriate service that matches demand,” said WSF Assistant Secretary Amy Scarton. “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.”
The largest drop was recorded on the Seattle-Bremerton route, with ridership down 15%. This is a decline of more than 400,000 customers from 2018.
Ridership on the state’s busiest route, between Seattle and Bainbridge Island, fell 2.2%.
The largest jump came on the Southworth/Vashon segment of the “Triangle Route,” where ridership was up 5.2%, a gain of more than 10,000 customers over the 2018 totals. This is the fourth year in a row that the biggest percentage increase has been on a route serving Southworth, according to WSF.
According to WSF's 2040 Long Range Plan, "state ferry ridership is still forecast to grow by 30% to all-time highs by 2040."
The Long Range Plan also calls for the eventual addition of 16 new ferries over the next 20 years to support the projected growth.
