Got a couple ferry
email alerts Thursday. At 11 in the morning, drivers were having to
wait an hour on the other side to catch a boat to both Kingston and
Bainbridge Island. That’s typical for getaway Fridays, but
Thursday? At 11 in the morning? And for the first time ever this
summer I’ve seen four-hour Sunday waits at Kingston.
That got me to wondering what the ridership numbers are looking
like. Washington State Ferries has them on its webpage, by quarter
and year.
First, some background. After WSF lost license tab money in 2000,
it started jacking up fares, boats broke, the economy tanked.
Ridership plummeted 17.2 percent through 2012. It finally turned
around in 2013 with a 1.5 percent gain, followed by 2.7 last year.
Through the first half of this year, it has spiked 4.5 percent.
It’s rebounding with the economy and relatively cheap gasoline,
says longtime WSF planner and Central Kitsap High alum Ray
Deardorf. The mild winter and spring weather also contributed.
The increases have been in discretionary and commercial travel, he
said. Commuter trips have been stable or dropping, depending on the
route.
This last quarter, April through June, for example, there was an 8
percent jump in full-fare passengers (those without passes), while
those with multi-ride cards and transit passes (commuters) declined
5 and 5.8 percent.
Also last quarter, WSF carried 6,254,301 riders, the highest count
in that quarter since 2002, Deardorf said.
A couple new 144-car boats, Tokitae and Samish, have bumped 87-car
Tillikum and Evergreen State, which didn’t hurt the numbers but
probably didn’t add significantly, either. Two more boats will be
arriving in the next couple years, which will retire the Klahowya,
last of small, old ferries.
During the second quarter, the Bremerton route gained 6.9 percent
more riders, Kingston 4.5 percent, Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth 3
percent and Bainbridge 2.2 percent.