National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO)
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) conducts a biennial census of all ferry operators operating within the United States and its territories. The information collected from the census is maintained in a national ferry database containing information regarding ferry routes, terminals, vessels, operator funding sources, as well as the number of passengers and vehicles carried and more. To date, BTS has conducted the census in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. The data collection for the 2022 NCFO will begin on April 1, 2023. The 2022 NCFO will collect 2022 operational ferry data. This change is due to the effects on ridership from the COVID-19 pandemic. Future NCFO data collections will be named for the year of the data being collected, not for the year the survey is conducted.
2020 NCFO Facts and Figures
2020 Dataset
updated 3/01/2022
Data is housed at data.bts.gov. The links to the individual datasets are provided here as well as links for directly downloading the data.
- The Operator data table contains information about ferry operators and details about their operation
- The Operator Segment data table contains information related to route segments such as ferry operators who provide service, segment length, average trip time, passenger volume, and season start and end dates
- The Segment data table contains information about each route segment such as the terminals it connects, the type geographic area it serves, and whether it serves a National Park Service location
- The Terminal data table contains information about ferry terminals, their location, and facilities
- The Vessel data table contains information about ferry vessels such as the passenger and/or vehicle capacity, speed, and fuel type
- File layout for the data tables