by Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard
June 18, 2025
Travel on a Washington state ferry will cost more this fall and even more next spring.
How much became a little clearer Tuesday when a state transportation panel settled on a course to increase fares by 3% on Oct. 1 and another 3% on May 1, 2026.
The Washington State Transportation Commission also recommended hiking the summer season surcharge to 35% on all routes and, on a trial basis, extending the life of multi-ride passes to 120 days starting next May. They now expire after 90 days.
Public comment on the approach will be accepted online through Aug. 5. A virtual public hearing will be held Aug. 6, with the commission then voting on a final fare hike proposal.
Those increases would be in addition to actions taken earlier this year by state lawmakers and Gov. Bob Ferguson.
They agreed to hike the capital surcharge tacked onto each ticket to $1 starting Oct. 1. It is now 50 cents. The money is used to fund construction of new state ferries.
And they put a provision in the 2025-27 state transportation budget directing Washington State Ferries to levy a new 3% fee on credit card transactions beginning March 1, 2026. Fares paid by credit cards are an estimated 82% of farebox revenue, commission staff said.
State ferries’ staff said they worked to calibrate these changes with the various options they presented to the commission Tuesday.
“This is going to feel like a higher cost to the customer. We were very aware of that. When the customer feels like there is an increase to them, there is a drop in ridership,” Siri Olson, senior manager of financial planning for Washington State Ferries, told commissioners.
Under the transportation budget, Washington State Ferries is required to generate $408.8 million from fares in the next two years to help cover the agency’s day-to-day operating costs.
Fares differ by route as well as vehicle size, number of passengers and the time of year one travels. A surcharge is assessed on the base fare of a single vehicle between May 1 and Sept. 30, which is the peak season for ridership.
Under the current commission proposal, the standard passenger fare on the Mukilteo-Clinton route is expected to increase by 70 cents in October and an additional 15 cents in May 2026. For a standard-sized vehicle, the cost is expected to rise 85 cents in October 2025, and an additional 30 cents next May.
On the Seattle-Bremerton route, the passenger fare is expected to go up by 80 cents in October 2025 and an additional 30 cents next May. For standard vehicles, the increases are expected to be $1.05 in October and another 55 cents in May 2026.
Those estimates, provided by transportation commission staff, include this year’s boost to the vessel replacement surcharge.
Not included are the higher summer season surcharge or the credit card fee, both of which take effect next year. The surcharge will climb by 10% to the new level of 35% for all routes, except San Juan routes, which already have a 35% peak season levy.
“This has been an extremely complex fare-setting process,” said Aaron Halbert, financial analyst for the commission.
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