SEPTEMBER 2018 • FOGHORN 21 FOGHORNFOCUS: TECHNOLOGY the information by simply “Googling” the phrase, “National Census of Ferry Operators,” and you can view all of this data right on your smartphone, or computer. By the Numbers In addition to the nearly 119 million passengers and millions of vehicles carried by U.S. ferries in 2015, the stats indicate the American ferry fleet is comprised of a total of 652 vessels, as reported by participating operators. Of that fleet, 609 were in active service in the calendar year 2015. In 2015, there were 560 ferry terminals in the U.S., according to operators’ census reports. These terminals were spread evenly across the regions with 29.3 of terminals in the West and 29 percent in the Northeast, followed by the South (26.1 percent) and the Midwest (13.2 percent). The top five states with regard to the number of ferry terminals were New York (60), California (47), Alaska (41) and Washington State (40). Of those terminals for which data was provided, nearly two-thirds had parking onsite or nearby (69.5 percent), whereas nearly one-third (29.6 percent) had local bus service. Additionally, only 12.9 percent had intercity bus service near the terminal, while a smaller percentage had rail service nearby (local rail 7.2 percent; intercity rail – 4.9 percent). California had nearly all the vessels in the ferry fleet carry passengers (93.3 percent), while just under half (43.8 percent) carry vehicles and less than a fifth carry freight. The average passenger capacity of the passenger- carrying fleet was 323 with a median capacity of 149 and a maximum of 5,200 people. The average vehicle capacity of the vehicle-carrying fleet was 23 with a median capacity of nine and a maximum of 202 vehicles. The average operating speed of the fleet was 12 knots and the average age of the fleet was 27 years with the oldest vessel being 102 years old. Operators indicated that just over half of their route fares were regulated by a public agency. The majority of reporting operators’ revenues came from ticket sales. More than half, 54.6 percent, of all ferries reported that ticket sales are between 75-100 percent of revenue. And nearly two-thirds of operators reported that 74.2 percent of their revenue resulted from ticket sales. Ten operators (8.7 percent) reported that state grant funding provided 75 percent or more of their revenue. As indicated previously, PVA encourages every ferry operator to respond promptly and fully to the 2018 National Census, now underway. If you have not received a survey from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, please contact BTS’s Survey Statistician, Ms. Janine McFadden at 202- 366-2468 or janine.mcfadden@dot.gov. Or, contact PVA’s Zackery Reed at 1-800-807-8360 ext. 23 or at zreed@passenger vessel.com. n Zackery Reed, PVA Manager, Special Projects