Whidbey Island ferries see jump in walk-ons

With over 19 million passengers onboard in 2024, ferries remained a popular mode of transportation.

With over 19 million passengers onboard in 2024, ferries remained a popular mode of transportation, especially for walk-on passengers.

Washington State Ferries recently released its year in review, which yielded 530 whale sightings, 148,860 soft pretzels sold and 114 lifesaving events, among other interesting statistics.

In a press release, State Ferries touted the fewest cancellations in four years and a 2.6% increase in ridership systemwide compared to 2023, amounting to about 500,000 more people.

On the Mukilteo-Clinton route, the number of walk-on passengers climbed by an impressive 9.4%. Vehicles declined by 1.1%, but the route remained the busiest in the system for drivers. Behind Seattle-Bainbridge Island and Edmonds-Kingston, it’s the third busiest route in the system, with a total of 3,678,921 passengers.

Dean Enell, chairperson of the Clinton Ferry Advisory Committee, surmised that the boom in walk-ons may be due to better public transportation. On the Mukilteo side, the 117 bus runs every 30 minutes, taking passengers to the light rail station in Lynnwood that opened in August.

“I know a lot of people personally my age who are using that to go to doctor’s appointments, the airport, downtown Seattle,” he said.

The Port Townsend-Coupeville route also saw an increase in foot traffic, with 3.4% more walk-ons. Vehicles went up by just 0.5%. The route continues to operate on one-boat service but carried more passengers than some of the San Juan Islands routes, with a total of 694,636 people.