The MV Kennewick will be in service for the next month while the MV Salish, pictured, will get some repairs, and then they will rotate as maintenance requires. (Peninsula Daily News file)

The MV Kennewick will be in service for the next month while the MV Salish, pictured, will get some repairs, and then they will rotate as maintenance requires. (Peninsula Daily News file)

Port Townsend-Coupeville ferry reduced to single boat until May

Statewide ridership numbers on slight downward trend

PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend-Coupeville ferry service will be reduced to one boat starting Tuesday, part of a seasonal shift that will return to two-boat service next May.

The reduction will allow Washington State Ferries to bring one ferry in for maintenance, public information officer Ian Sterling said.

The MV Kennewick will be in service for the next month while the MV Salish will get some repairs, and then they will rotate as maintenance requires, Sterling said.

Two-boat service will return for Mother’s Day on May 10, 2020.

“We wish we could do two [ferries] all year round, but that’s not how it’s worked out in the last few years,” Sterling said.

The service reduction takes into account a number of factors, including ridership demands and the cost of running two boats instead of one, Sterling said.

Statewide, there’s roughly a 50 percent reduction in travelers during the winter months, he added.

“Port Townsend-Coupeville is definitely a route there seems to be a demand for, but it’s certainly much less outside of the tourist season,” Sterling said.

The ridership numbers are on a slight downward trend from a record-setting year in 2018, Sterling said.

The Port Townsend-Coupeville route had about 1.2 percent fewer riders, from 681,000 between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2018, with 673,000 during the same period this year, he said.

Statewide, the margin is wider at a 3.72 percent drop during the same time period. Sterling attributed that to the week-long snowstorm that hit the greater Puget Sound region in February.

“Hundreds of thousands of people did not travel system-wide, enough that it caused a blip [in ridership numbers],” Sterling said.

“This is the first time we’ve seen ridership numbers drop in about a dozen years,” he said.

Sterling also said passenger-only ferries run by Kitsap and King counties likely had an impact on state ferry riders.

“We believe the fast-ferry service in Kitsap County, coupled with the construction at Colman Dock, that a lot of people have moved over to the foot ferries,” he said. “We don’t see them as competition. It just gives people other options.”

________

Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Peninsula College nursing students, from left, Emily Haddock of Lewiston, Idaho, Jordan Hegtvedt of Sequim and Chaela Cashman of Port Angeles adjust each other’s mortar boards in preparation for commencement ceremonies on Saturday on the college’s Port Angeles campus. A total of 328 students were expected to take part in two ceremonies with 530 students eligible for diplomas and certificates for the 2024-25 academic year. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Graduation prep

Peninsula College nursing students, from left, Emily Haddock of Lewiston, Idaho, Jordan… Continue reading

Next steps outlined in Olympic Medical Center process

CEO: Update on status will be ‘coming soon’

Cooling centers would extend hours, if needed

Summer forecast calls for warmer, smokier conditions, public health specialist says

Elwha River bridge set to be demolished

Clallam commissioners receive road construction updates

Sequim city staff are considering next options for a house and various outbuildings in Gerhardt Park after a recent surplus auction resulted in no bids. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim considers options for house in park

Public provided no bids during process that ended June 6

Three injured following crash near Forks

Three people were injured following a two-car collision on state… Continue reading

Power outage scheduled for West End customers

Clallam County Public Utility District No. 1 has announced a… Continue reading

Chimacum High School senior Jesse Daniels takes crazy cell phone photos of his classmates while waiting to march to the gym for his graduation ceremony at Chimacum High on Saturday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Lasting memories

Chimacum High School senior Jesse Daniels takes crazy cell phone photos of… Continue reading

Cadence Harlan and Sophia Petta lead their class of 99 Port Townsend High School graduating seniors through the Rhododendron Garden at Fort Worden State Park on Friday for their graduation ceremony at McCurdy Pavilion. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Graduation walk

Cadence Harlan and Sophia Petta lead their class of 99 Port Townsend… Continue reading

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula
Carrie Blake Community Park, pictured last summer, returns as a Summer Meal Program destination through the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and the Department of Agriculture. Meals are offered to children ages 1-18 from noon to 12:30 p.m. in the park on weekdays, except July 4, through Aug. 27.
Free student meals programs start in Port Angeles, Sequim

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula has launched its… Continue reading

Security exercise set for Wednesday at Indian Island

Naval Magazine Indian Island will conduct a security training… Continue reading

Carissa Guiley of Silverdale, left, along with daughters Mia Guiley, 5, and Evelyn Guiley, 8, peer over a rocky bluff at a sea stack in Crescent Bay on Saturday near Port Crescent. The family was on an outing at Salt Creek County Recreation Area. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
What’s over the edge?

Carissa Guiley of Silverdale, left, along with daughters Mia Guiley, 5, and… Continue reading