Graphic Version

National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO)

The 2016 National Census of Ferry Operators is Now Underway

If you area ferry operator, please call us toll-free at (800) 853-1351 or email us at ferry@dot.gov if you have any questions or concerns.

On a biennial basis, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology's (OST-R's) Bureau of, Transportation Statistics (BTS) conducts a cencus of all ferry operators operating in the United States and its territories. The information collected from the census. is maintained in a national ferry database containing information regarding ferry systems including routes, vessels, passengers and vehicles carried funding sources and other information. The numerous detailed data elements are provided in a relational database allowing access and analysis at various levels - operator route segment, terminal or vessel. The NCFO was first conducted in 2000 by the Federal Highway Administration, (FHWA's) Office of Intermodal and Statewide Planning. By legislative mandate (SAFETEA-LU) BTS assumed the role in 2006 and has subsequently conducted the NCFO in 2006, 2008 and 2010. In 2012, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP 21) was enacted and subsequent data collection was conducted for calendar year 2014.

Census Coverage

The geographic scope of the database of existing ferry operations includes the United States and its territories, encompassing the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. In addition to ferry operators providing domestic service within the U.S. and its terrirories operators providing services to or from at least one U S terminal are also included. Ferry operations that were included within the scope of this census are those providing itinerant, fixed route, common carrier passenger and/or vehicle ferry service. Railroad car float operations are also included within the scope of the survey. Ferry operations that are exclusively non-itinerant, such as excursion services (e.g. whale watchers, casino boats, day cruises, dinner cruises, etc.) passenger only water taxi services not operating on a fixed route, LoLo (Lift-on/Lift-off) freight/auto carrier services, or long distance passenger only cruise ship services are not included within the scope of this census.

NCFO Methodology

NCFO Questionnaire

Database Overview

The National Census of Ferry Operators database is a cdlection of summary tables that provide ferry operation data from a nationwide census of ferry operators along with other sources of ferry data such as the U S Coast Guard and the U S Army Corps of Engineers. Numerous detailed data elements describing the services provided by these ferry operators were collected as part of this effort. A relational database format was utilized throughout the collection and processing of the many related data elements and provides for the reporting of the information at the various levels, such as by operator, route segment, terminal or vessel.

NOTICE: Not all ferry operators respond to the National Census of Ferry Operators in any given year. Some data fields for non-responding ferry operators have been completed based on information from other sources. Take special note that passenger and vehicle boarding data are blank for ferry operators that did not respond to the census, did not have access to these numbers, refused to report them, or required BTS to keep them confidential

Data Tables

Operator - The Operator data table contains infomiation about ferry operators and details about their operation

Operator Segment - The Operator Segment data table containes information related to route segments such as ferry operators who provide service, segment length, average trip time, passenger colume and season start and end dates.