As B.C. Ferries and Washington State Ferries are two of the largest ferry companies in the world, both operating on the West Coast, it would seem logical to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the two systems. However, due to many reasons, such a comparison is not really appropriate.

First, for the most part, WSF (22 vessels and 20 terminals) operates a commuter-based service, with larger vessels sailing over much shorter distances. BCF (35 vessels and 47 terminals) provides the greatest diversity of service of any ferry operator in the world, with large vessels connecting Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast to the Lower Mainland, small to medium-sized ships providing service between the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island, and large cabin ferries sailing between northern Vancouver Island, Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii.

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Second, while WSF provides services over an area of 130 kilometres, BCF is contracted to provide service across an area stretching more than 10 times that to 1,600 kilometres. In terms of total kilometres travelled per year, BCF sails about 2.6 million kilometres, which is about 75 per cent more than the 1.5 million kilometres that WSF sails annually.

Third, with a little more than 1,800 employees, WSF has about 40 per cent of the employee base of BCF, which has about 4,500 employees working during peak summer months.

Operationally, due to vastly different federal crewing regulations in Canada compared to the United States, BCF must crew a similar-size vessel in Canada with up to three times the crew as WSF. For example, at WSF a vessel about the same size as BCF’s Spirit Class vessel has a mandated crewing level of 15 from the U.S. Coast Guard, while a Spirit’s crew is set at 48 by Transport Canada.

Fourth, administratively, BCF is a standalone entity that provides all functions needed to operate a complex ferry system (human resources, information technology, accounting, treasury, etc.) within itself. At WSF, many of these functions are provided by the government and the cost is not allocated to the ferry system.

Last, B.C. Ferries must fund its capital requirements for new vessels, major retrofits, terminal infrastructure improvements and information technology projects itself. WSF’s capital funding is provided by the state.

While, for the reasons mentioned above, it is difficult to do a true comparison between the two systems, we do know that on a cost-per-passenger-kilometre basis, the costs are comparable. It costs WSF 83 cents US per kilometre and BCF 70 cents (Canadian) to provide ferry service to each of its respective customers.

With all this being said, WSF and BCF constantly communicate with each other at various levels across the two organizations to share best practices related to safety, operational efficiencies, fuel management, fleet renewal as well as many other areas.

Mike Corrigan is president and CEO of B.C. Ferries, and president of Interferry, the worldwide ferry organization.