Washington State Ferries is taking an initial step toward offering public Wi-Fi service at ferry terminals and aboard vessels.
The agency issued a report in December proposing a limited Wi-Fi pilot at a single terminal — Bremerton — and on a single vessel, the M/V Chimacum.
The effort is driven by state legislation passed last year directing the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to deploy a Wi-Fi pilot within existing resources and report on viability, costs, and potential free or fee-based models.
Washington State Ferries (WSF), which operates under WSDOT, is working through the procurement process for a vendor for the pilot program, according to a spokesperson. The program is limited in scope and any expansion or continuation would be subject to direction from lawmakers, the spokesperson noted.
The report estimates that the pilot could cost between $100,000 and $150,000, which includes equipment, installation, and minimal vendor support for the pilot period. WSF estimates that expanding public Wi-Fi across terminals and vessels statewide would likely require a multi-million-dollar capital investment, along with ongoing annual operating and maintenance costs in the seven-figure range.
WSF currently provides no public internet service anywhere in its ferry system. The report references a private-sector attempt to offer Wi-Fi in the late 2000s that ultimately failed due to high infrastructure costs and insufficient revenue. WSF previously partnered with wireless networking company Boingo on a fee-based Wi-Fi service in 2008, but that ended in 2016.
The new pilot could determine whether modern networking technology and vendor models change that equation. WSF plans to measure how many passengers actually use Wi-Fi, how much bandwidth they consume, service reliability, and what kind of staffing and vendor support is required to keep the system running.
Final costs for a potential broader rollout would depend on factors such as how many terminals and vessels are covered, the level of bandwidth provided, and whether service is free, paid, or a mix of both.
If WSF proceeds as planned, the pilot would move forward in 2026, with installation in the spring, and an operational test period running from May through August, according to the report. WSF would analyze the data in late summer and deliver findings and recommendations in September 2026.
The agency flagged several risks, including cybersecurity requirements, potential strain on staff resources, infrastructure limitations on older vessels and terminals, and the challenge of managing passenger expectations for a temporary test program. Any public Wi-Fi network would need to be fully segmented from ferry operational systems and comply with state IT security and accessibility standards.
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