Victoria indicatorsFerry passengers, Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen
6.63M in 12 months
No target expected. This is a context measure. A count of travellers, shown for context. Targets and comparisons
Up 1.7% in a year.
Source: BC Ferries. We read it on Nov 12, 2026.
Over time
Route 1 passengers each month (both directions)
Oct 2026 Passengers, by month
- Latest 12 months 547,530
- Same month a year earlier 506,101
Targets and comparisons
Context measure: no target expected
Context measure: no target expected. A count of travellers, shown for context.
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Latest 12 months | Same month a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 547,530 | 506,101 |
| Sep 2026 | 636,712 | 583,474 |
| Aug 2026 | 877,533 | 882,612 |
| Jul 2026 | 788,896 | 801,017 |
| Jun 2026 | 610,317 | 645,302 |
| May 2026 | 613,119 | 590,760 |
| Apr 2026 | 504,951 | 512,667 |
| Mar 2026 | 470,228 | 466,889 |
| Feb 2026 | 361,374 | 323,793 |
| Jan 2026 | 351,986 | 348,511 |
| Dec 2025 | 455,008 | 456,262 |
| Nov 2025 | 408,521 | 399,198 |
Who decides
No government decides this directly. The bodies below decide the rules around it.
Show all 1 bodies and the laws
No government decides this directly. Travellers decide whether to sail.
| Body | What it decides | Law or bylaw |
|---|---|---|
| Province of B.C. (BC Ferries Commissioner) | The BC Ferries Commissioner regulates the core ferry services BC Ferries must provide and its fares. | Coastal Ferry Act, s. 38 |
Province: last general election October 19, 2024; next set for October 21, 2028 unless called earlier (Constitution Act, s. 23).
Each row says what a body decides and links to the law, order or bylaw that gives it that role. It does not say who caused a change: markets, households and other governments also move these numbers. Who decides what, for every measure · How we choose
What this number does not show
- 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.
One more limit
- BC Ferries says its traffic statistics are preliminary and may differ slightly from its final financial and regulatory reports.
In plain words
Passengers on BC Ferries route 1 between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, both directions, added up over the latest 12 months from BC Ferries’ monthly traffic reports.
How we decide “Steady”
Ferry travel is shown for context. The change is 1.7% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold.
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).
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. The rule.
All notes on this number
Why it matters. It is the main link between Greater Victoria and the Lower Mainland. It is shown for context, without a better or worse label.
- 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.
Which places
Area: BC Ferries route 1
BC Ferries route 1, between Swartz Bay (North Saanich) and Tsawwassen (Delta), both directions.
Included
- Passengers departing Swartz Bay and passengers departing Tsawwassen
Not included
- Other BC Ferries routes, such as Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands
Official definition
How the agency describes it: BC Ferries route 1 (Swartz Bay, near Victoria, to Tsawwassen, near Vancouver).
How we got it
This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own document and refuses to show it unless the expected text is found.
Licence and credits
This figure is public but not under an open licence: the agency publishes it for anyone to read, and it is shown here with credit and a link to the agency’s terms. About licences.
- Licence
- Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution. Agency’s terms of use
- Updated by agency
- Monthly (BC Ferries posts its reports quarterly); latest release Not stated by the agency
- Retrieved
- Nov 12, 2026, 10:30 PM B.C. time
Source: BC Ferries, Traffic Statistics System: Total Vehicle and Passenger Counts by Route. Public document, used with attribution; not endorsed by the publisher.
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