Washington State Ferries
Washington state maintains the largest fleet of passenger and auto ferries in the United States and the third largest in the world. The system, known as Washington State Ferries, serves communities on Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands. The ferry system is operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The ferry system has its origins in the "Mosquito Fleet", a collection of small steamer lines serving the Puget Sound area during the later part of the nineteenth century and early part of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1930s, two lines remained: the Puget Sound Navigation Company (known as the Black Ball Line) and the Kitsap County Transportation Company. A strike in 1935 forced the KCTC to close, leaving only the Black Ball Line.
Toward the end of the 1940s the Black Ball Line wanted to increase its fares, to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers' unions, but the state refused to allow this, and so the Black Ball Line shut down. In 1951, the state bought substantially all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5 million. The state intended to run ferry service only until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved, and the Washington Department of Transportation runs the system to this day.
Fleet
As of late 2005, there are 28 ferries on Puget Sound and one on the Columbia River. The largest vessels in this fleet carry up to 2500 passengers and 212 vehicles. See the list of Washington State ferries for a complete fleet roster.
Current vehicle routes
- Downtown Seattle to Bremerton
- Downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island
- Southworth to Vashon Island to Fauntleroy (West Seattle)
- Point Defiance to Tahlequah (south end of Vashon Island)
- Clinton to Mukilteo
- Edmonds to Kingston
- Keystone to Port Townsend
- Anacortes to (any or all of the following [in most common route order])
- Anacortes to Sidney, British Columbia (The service's only Canadian port-of-call, via any of the above stops, via inter-island runs, if necessary)
Other publicly operated Washington ferries
The Guemes Island Ferry from Anacortes 5 minutes north to Guemes Island is operated by Skagit County, Washington.
Wahkiakum County operates the Wahkiakum County Ferry on the lower Columbia River.
The Colville Confederated Tribes operate the Gifford-Inchelium Ferry on the upper Columbia River.
Pierce County operates a ferry from Steilacoom to Anderson Island and Ketron Island.[1] The Washington State Department of Corrections also operates a ferry from the same dock to the McNeil Island Corrections Center. [2]
The Lummi Island Ferry from Gooseberry Point to Lummi Island is operated by Whatcom County.
Passenger-only Service and Private
Vashon Island to Seattle is the only current (as of October 2005) passenger-only service operated by Washington State Ferries. Services operated by private enterprise are often proposed, and occasionally run on an experimental basis. The most recent run, between Kingston and Seattle, called Aqua Express, has decided to shut down after two years of non-profitable service. West Seattle to the Seattle central business district and Bremerton to Seattle have been other passenger-only routes attempted by private enterprise.
Many private ferries exist to serve residents of islands throughout Puget Sound and beyond into the Juan de Fuca Strait. For example, high-speed catamarans, geared to tourists, run to Victoria, British Columbia operated by the Victoria Clipper (from Seattle) and by the Victoria Express from Port Angeles. Another tourist line runs from Ocean Shores to Westport across Grays Harbor.
Defunct Passenger-only Service
From 1993 to the early 2000s a passenger-only service ran from Bremerton to Seattle. It was shut down partially because of limited profitability, and because of continued lawsuits of residents living on the waterway used by the ferry to prevent the hi-speed ferries built for the run from running at their full speed. The slower speed made the crossing time similar or equal to the auto ferry operating on the same route, making the passenger-only service redundant. Since 2004, a private company, the Kitsap Ferry Co. has again been providing passenger-only ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, during weekday commute times.
Counties served
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ferries serve Island County, Jefferson County, King County, Kitsap County, Pierce County, San Juan County, Skagit County, and Snohomish County.
Eastern Washington
The Keller Ferry serves Lincoln County and Ferry County.
Subculture
As the largest fleet in operation in the United States, the Washington state system is substantial enough to have generated significant political issues, labor activism, and even its own minor subculture.
- See also: BC Ferries, Black Ball Line