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EspañolWASHINGTON STATE FERRIES
:''This page is about the ferry system operated by the state of Washington. Other entities operate other Ferries in Washington State''
The state of Washington runs 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.
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. They are painted in a distinctive white and green trim paint scheme, and feature double-ended open vehicle decks and bridges at each end so that they don't need to turn around.
★ 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])
★
★ Lopez Island
★
★ Shaw Island
★
★ Orcas Island
★
★ Friday Harbor (on San Juan Island)
★ 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)
★ Ferry County to Lincoln County (connecting State Route 21, across the Columbia River)
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. From 1993 to the early 2000s a passenger-only service ran from Bremerton to Seattle. It was shut down because of limited profitability and because of continued lawsuits of residents living on the waterway used by the ferry to prevent the high-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.
Main articles: Ferries in Washington State
★ 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 two ferries from Steilacoom to Anderson Island and Ketron Island, the Christine Anderson and the Steilacoom II.[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.
★ Kitsap Transit operates a passenger-only ferry between Port Orchard and Bremerton.[3]
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 across Grays Harbor, from Ocean Shores to Westport.
From 2004 to April 2007, a private company, the Kitsap Ferry Co., provided passenger-only ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, during weekday commute times. The service was canceled due to high costs and lack of support from Kitsap Transit, whose district voters failed to pass a sales tax increase for the foot ferry.
The most recent run, between Kingston and Seattle, called Aqua Express, 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.
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.
★ Ferries in Washington State
★ Alaska Marine Highway
★ BC Ferries
★ Black Ball Line
★ Live images of the Orcas Island ferry landing
★ Washington State Ferries official homepage
★ WSF Vessel Watch realtime vessel positions
★ http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/pdf/progressreport/introduction.pdf
★ Evergreenfleet.com-- A History of Washington State Ferries Past and Present
1. Pierce County's Ferry fleet
2. Washington State Department of Corrections McNeil Island Ferry Schedule
3. Kitsap Transit Foot Ferry
The state of Washington runs 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.
A Washington State Ferry arrives in Downtown Seattle.
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.
| Contents |
| Fleet |
| Routes |
| Automobile |
| Passenger-only |
| Other ferries in Washington |
| Publicly operated |
| Private |
| Passenger-only |
| Subculture |
| See also |
| External links |
| References |
Fleet
The Washington State ferry Hyak in Rich Passage heading to Bremerton, WA.
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. They are painted in a distinctive white and green trim paint scheme, and feature double-ended open vehicle decks and bridges at each end so that they don't need to turn around.
Routes
Automobile
Washington State Ferry ''Nisqually'' with Orcas Island in the background.
★ 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])
★
★ Lopez Island
★
★ Shaw Island
★
★ Orcas Island
★
★ Friday Harbor (on San Juan Island)
★ 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)
★ Ferry County to Lincoln County (connecting State Route 21, across the Columbia River)
Passenger-only
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. From 1993 to the early 2000s a passenger-only service ran from Bremerton to Seattle. It was shut down because of limited profitability and because of continued lawsuits of residents living on the waterway used by the ferry to prevent the high-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.
Other ferries in Washington
Main articles: Ferries in Washington State
Publicly operated
★ 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 two ferries from Steilacoom to Anderson Island and Ketron Island, the Christine Anderson and the Steilacoom II.[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.
★ Kitsap Transit operates a passenger-only ferry between Port Orchard and Bremerton.[3]
Private
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 across Grays Harbor, from Ocean Shores to Westport.
Passenger-only
From 2004 to April 2007, a private company, the Kitsap Ferry Co., provided passenger-only ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, during weekday commute times. The service was canceled due to high costs and lack of support from Kitsap Transit, whose district voters failed to pass a sales tax increase for the foot ferry.
The most recent run, between Kingston and Seattle, called Aqua Express, 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.
Washington State Ferry ''Tacoma''
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
★ Ferries in Washington State
★ Alaska Marine Highway
★ BC Ferries
★ Black Ball Line
External links
★ Live images of the Orcas Island ferry landing
★ Washington State Ferries official homepage
★ WSF Vessel Watch realtime vessel positions
★ http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/pdf/progressreport/introduction.pdf
★ Evergreenfleet.com-- A History of Washington State Ferries Past and Present
References
1. Pierce County's Ferry fleet
2. Washington State Department of Corrections McNeil Island Ferry Schedule
3. Kitsap Transit Foot Ferry
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