{
  "id": "ferry-passengers",
  "category": "Mobility",
  "title": "Ferry passengers between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen",
  "geography": "BC Ferries route 1 (Swartz Bay, near Victoria, to Tsawwassen, near Vancouver)",
  "scope": "region",
  "levels": [
    "BC Ferries (provincially owned company)",
    "Provincial (ferry service contract)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "How many passengers travelled on the main ferry route between Greater Victoria and the Lower Mainland over the latest 12 months?",
  "value": 6626175,
  "display_value": "6.63M",
  "unit": "passengers in 12 months to October 2026",
  "period": "12 months to October 2026",
  "period_start": "2025-11-01",
  "period_end": "2026-10-28",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "12 months to October 2025",
    "previous_value": 6516586,
    "change_percent": 1.7
  },
  "trend": "context",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "Shown for context, without a better or worse label: it measures travel between the Island and the mainland.",
  "trend_basis": "6,626,175 passengers in the 12 months November 2025 to October 2026, against 6,516,586 in the same months a year earlier (+1.7%), adding BC Ferries’ monthly reports (both directions).",
  "since_text": "October 2026: 547,530 passengers (506,101 a year earlier).",
  "caveats": [
    "Passengers on route 1, both directions (departing Swartz Bay and departing Tsawwassen), from BC Ferries’ monthly traffic reports. Each report gives the month and the same month a year earlier; the site adds the latest 12.",
    "BC Ferries says its traffic statistics are preliminary and may differ slightly from its final financial and regulatory reports.",
    "BC Ferries is an independent company owned by a provincial authority, the BC Ferry Authority, not a government agency. The passenger counts are its own. We found no government agency that publishes passenger counts for this route, so this source is used, with this note.",
    "Other routes to Victoria (from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo, the Gulf Islands, and private carriers to the United States) are not included."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Route 1 passengers each month (both directions)",
      "fmt": "int",
      "unit": "passengers",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Latest 12 months",
          "area": "route1",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2025-11",
              "value": 408521
            },
            {
              "period": "2025-12",
              "value": 455008
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-01",
              "value": 351986
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-02",
              "value": 361374
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-03",
              "value": 470228
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-04",
              "value": 504951
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-05",
              "value": 613119
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-06",
              "value": 610317
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-07",
              "value": 788896
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-08",
              "value": 877533
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-09",
              "value": 636712
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-10",
              "value": 547530
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Same month a year earlier",
          "area": "route1",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2025-11",
              "value": 399198
            },
            {
              "period": "2025-12",
              "value": 456262
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-01",
              "value": 348511
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-02",
              "value": 323793
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-03",
              "value": 466889
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-04",
              "value": 512667
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-05",
              "value": 590760
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-06",
              "value": 645302
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-07",
              "value": 801017
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-08",
              "value": 882612
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-09",
              "value": 583474
            },
            {
              "period": "2026-10",
              "value": 506101
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "12 months to October 2025",
      "value": 6516586
    },
    {
      "period": "12 months to October 2026",
      "value": 6626175
    }
  ],
  "derived_figures": [
    {
      "what": "12-month total",
      "formula": "sum of the monthly route 1 passenger totals",
      "inputs": {
        "2025-11": 408521,
        "2025-12": 455008,
        "2026-01": 351986,
        "2026-02": 361374,
        "2026-03": 470228,
        "2026-04": 504951,
        "2026-05": 613119,
        "2026-06": 610317,
        "2026-07": 788896,
        "2026-08": 877533,
        "2026-09": 636712,
        "2026-10": 547530
      },
      "result": 6626175
    },
    {
      "what": "Same 12 months a year earlier",
      "formula": "sum of the previous-year column of the same reports",
      "inputs": {
        "2024-11": 399198,
        "2024-12": 456262,
        "2025-01": 348511,
        "2025-02": 323793,
        "2025-03": 466889,
        "2025-04": 512667,
        "2025-05": 590760,
        "2025-06": 645302,
        "2025-07": 801017,
        "2025-08": 882612,
        "2025-09": 583474,
        "2025-10": 506101
      },
      "result": 6516586
    }
  ],
  "refresh_frequency": "Monthly (BC Ferries posts its reports quarterly)",
  "source": {
    "name": "BC Ferries, Traffic Statistics System: Total Vehicle and Passenger Counts by Route",
    "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/about/traffic.html",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h14/h5c/9117340205086.pdf",
    "download_url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h14/h5c/9117340205086.pdf",
    "locator": "BC Ferries monthly report for October 2026, route 01 (SWB and TSA), unlabelled total row: passengers, month current year and month previous year",
    "reads": "October 2026: passengers 547,530 (previous year 506,101)",
    "months": [
      {
        "month": "November 2025",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/hf7/h10/9069855047710.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "December 2025",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/images/hd9/hd5/9072622305310.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "January 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/images/he0/he1/9078283075614.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "February 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/images/h0f/h79/9080506843166.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "March 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h92/h7e/9083983757342.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "April 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/hef/h80/9088088408094.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "May 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h51/hb0/9090509635614.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "June 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h17/h0f/9092799135774.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "July 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h96/h7b/9104214425630.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "August 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h2c/h60/9104214687774.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "September 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/hd5/h8c/9112447254558.pdf"
      },
      {
        "month": "October 2026",
        "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h14/h5c/9117340205086.pdf"
      }
    ]
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution.",
    "url": "https://www.bcferries.com/terms-and-conditions",
    "open": false
  },
  "verified_text": [
    "November 2025: route 01 total row “146,531 140,250 4.48 1,626,494 1,583,858 2.69 2,138,104 408,521 399,198 2.34 4,930,454 4,807,369 2.56 6,402,824”",
    "December 2025: route 01 total row “157,972 154,206 2.44 1,784,466 1,738,064 2.67 2,138,104 455,008 456,262 -0.27 5,385,462 5,263,631 2.31 6,402,824”",
    "January 2026: route 01 total row “129,053 127,355 1.33 1,913,519 1,865,419 2.58 2,138,104 351,986 348,511 1.00 5,737,448 5,612,142 2.23 6,402,824”",
    "February 2026: route 01 total row “133,494 114,017 17.08 2,047,013 1,979,436 3.41 2,138,104 361,374 323,793 11.61 6,098,822 5,935,935 2.74 6,402,824”",
    "March 2026: route 01 total row “163,628 158,668 3.13 2,210,641 2,138,104 3.39 2,138,104 470,228 466,889 0.72 6,569,050 6,402,824 2.60 6,402,824”",
    "April 2026: route 01 total row “177,671 179,385 -0.96 177,671 179,385 -0.96 2,210,641 504,951 512,667 -1.51 504,951 512,667 -1.51 6,569,050”",
    "May 2026: route 01 total row “207,459 199,231 4.13 385,130 378,616 1.72 2,210,641 613,119 590,760 3.78 1,118,070 1,103,427 1.33 6,569,050”",
    "June 2026: route 01 total row “203,116 212,450 -4.39 588,246 591,066 -0.48 2,210,641 610,317 645,302 -5.42 1,728,387 1,748,729 -1.16 6,569,050”",
    "July 2026: route 01 total row “241,047 246,528 -2.22 829,293 837,594 -0.99 2,210,641 788,896 801,017 -1.51 2,517,283 2,549,746 -1.27 6,569,050”",
    "August 2026: route 01 total row “258,773 264,146 -2.03 1,088,066 1,101,740 -1.24 2,210,641 877,533 882,612 -0.58 3,394,816 3,432,358 -1.09 6,569,050”",
    "September 2026: route 01 total row “211,911 202,832 4.48 1,299,977 1,304,572 -0.35 2,210,641 636,712 583,474 9.12 4,031,528 4,015,832 0.39 6,569,050”",
    "October 2026: route 01 total row “182,886 175,391 4.27 1,482,863 1,479,963 0.20 2,210,641 547,530 506,101 8.19 4,579,058 4,521,933 1.26 6,569,050”"
  ],
  "data_published": null,
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-13T05:30:31Z",
  "attribution": "Source: BC Ferries, Traffic Statistics System: Total Vehicle and Passenger Counts by Route. Public document, used with attribution; not endorsed by the publisher.",
  "licence_type": "public",
  "source_tier": 5,
  "measure_kind": "activity",
  "better_measure": null,
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "Ferry travel is shown for context.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "12 months to October 2025",
      "value": 6516586,
      "text": "vs Oct 2025: +1.7%"
    },
    "five_year": null
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "context",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "steady",
    "label": "Steady",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 1.7,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "12 months to October 2025",
    "cur": "12 months to October 2026",
    "why": "Ferry travel is shown for context. The change is 1.7% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "1.7%",
    "one_year": "+1.7%",
    "long_why": "The series starts in 12 months to October 2025, so there is no reading longer than one year yet."
  },
  "ownership_note": "Figure from BC Ferries (British Columbia Ferry Services Inc.), an independent company owned by the BC Ferry Authority, a provincial authority.",
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 4,
    "rung_name": "Context measure: no target expected",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "context",
        "label": "Context measure: no target expected",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "Context measure: no target expected. A count of travellers, shown for context."
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "no_target_expected": "A count of travellers, shown for context.",
  "benchmarks": [],
  "highest_rung": null,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "NONE",
      "name": "No government decides this directly",
      "note": "Travellers decide whether to sail."
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C. (BC Ferries Commissioner)",
      "decides": "The BC Ferries Commissioner regulates the core ferry services BC Ferries must provide and its fares.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "cfa38",
          "label": "Coastal Ferry Act, s. 38",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03014_01#section38"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "No government decides this directly",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "steady",
    "label": "Steady"
  },
  "label_long": null,
  "target_line": {
    "form": 7,
    "text": "No target expected",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": "A count of travellers, shown for context."
  }
}