Pierce County Ferry

Ferryboat at Pierce County Ferry

Pierce County Ferry carried 450,636 ferryboat boardings in FY2024 at $17.05 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Ferryboat Tacoma, WA
FY2024 boardings
450.6K
+0.9% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$17.05
-29.2% nationwide $16.88
Subsidy per ride
$9.86
-42.2% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
42.2%
+44.7% nationwide 25.8%
Passenger miles
1.77M
average trip 3.94 miles
Operating cost
$7.68M
Vehicles in service
2
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
83.51
5.4K hours operated

Ridership

Monthly data through July 2026.

This year against the last five

Same months on one axis, so seasonality does not read as a trend

Annual boardings

Ten-year series

Cost

This service against every ferryboat operator in the country.

Cost per ride

This agency against the national figure for the same mode

Fare recovery

Share of operating cost covered by fares

Directly operated and purchased service, FY2024

NTD reports these separately. An agency that contracts a service out reports the contract price, which bundles costs a directly operating agency reports line by line.

Service Boardings Passenger miles Revenue hours Operating cost Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery Vehicles
Purchased transportation 450,636 1,774,340 5,396 $7,681,278 $17.05 $9.86 42.2% 2

Safety and reliability

For this service alone.

Events by year

Complete calendar years only

Miles between failures

Revenue miles divided by mechanical failures. Higher is better.

Full series

Every year Pierce County Ferry reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 450,636 1,774,340 43,216 5,396 $7,681,278 $3,237,898 $17.05 $9.86 42.2%
2023 446,539 1,762,277 44,755 5,285 $10,753,517 $3,131,940 $24.08 $17.07 29.1%
2022 438,385 1,793,474 44,548 5,548 $9,966,451 $2,979,914 $22.73 $15.94 29.9%
2021 450,737 1,772,060 44,090 5,495 $4,982,498 $2,912,305 $11.05 $4.59 58.5%
2020 399,845 1,623,489 42,732 5,397 $4,920,011 $2,740,926 $12.30 $5.45 55.7%
2019 460,515 1,823,639 41,557 5,248 $6,589,752 $2,778,623 $14.31 $8.28 42.2%
2018 443,016 1,754,343 40,162 5,071 $6,447,040 $2,686,520 $14.55 $8.49 41.7%
2017 436,280 1,727,669 40,842 10,314 $3,902,287 $2,004,543 $8.94 $4.35 51.4%
2016 405,581 1,620,398 38,350 9,684 $4,835,568 $2,369,795 $11.92 $6.08 49%
2015 187,856 1,324,354 35,557 5,841 $6,323,535 $2,233,060 $33.66 $21.77 35.3%