Washington State Ferries

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 caused the KCTC to close, leaving only the Black Ball Line.[3]

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 nearly all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5 million (Black Ball retained five vessels of its fleet).[4] The state intended to run ferry service only until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved, and the Washington State Department of Transportation runs the system to this day.

In 2017, the Senate Labor, Commerce and Sports Committee held a fact finding hearing in Olympia in response to a report from KING-TV which analyzed the past five years of WSF financial data obtained through a request for public records. Transportation officials issued a statement saying, "the cash-strapped ferry system was cutting out excessive forms of compensation for many of its workers and saving millions of tax dollars in the process," while KING 5 Investigators showed WSF has been spending more on labor costs every year since 2012. Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, chair of the committee, said, "the most troubling portion of the report centered on how types of compensation that were eliminated by the legislature and WSF management were quietly added back on, which led to the soaring labor costs." Baumgartner stated plans to introduce legislation that would make negotiating contracts an open process in the future. He cited a conflict of interest in the current protocol as labor unions are perennial supporters of the governor.[5][6]

Washington State Ferry Tacoma

The Hyak in Rich Passage heading to Bremerton, WA.

The MV Chimacum arrives in Seattle for the first time with passengers on board, on May 24, 2017.

As of April 17, 2020, there are 21 ferries on Puget Sound operated by the state.[9] The largest vessels in this fleet carry up to 2500 passengers and 202 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 do not need to turn around.[10]

The ferry fleet consists of the following vessels:[9]

MV Illahee was one of the Steel Electric class ferries which were retired in 2007.

MV Kalakala was retired in 1967

Since the beginning of state-run ferry service in 1951, WSF has retired many vessels as they have become older, too expensive to operate or maintain, or have become too small to provide adequate ferry service. WSF owned passenger-only vessels between 1985 and 2009, but after discontinuing its two passenger-only routes in the 2000s, WSF has sold its passenger-only ferries to other operators.

Below is a list of ferries that WSF has retired since 1951. Unless otherwise noted, all vessels introduced in 1951 were acquired from the Puget Sound Navigation Company (PSN), also known as the Black Ball Line, when the state took over the company's routes and ferryboats in Puget Sound.

There are several other publicly operated, private, and passenger-only ferries in Washington state.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Washington State Ferries.

• Official website
• Evergreenfleet.com – A History of Washington State Ferries Past and Present
• Vehicle Reservation Predesign Study