National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO) 2022

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) United States Department of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration. Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Version:  View help for Version V1

Version Title:  View help for Version Title Initial upload

Name File Type Size Last Modified
2022 NCFO Operator Segments File _ BTS Data Inventory.pdf application/pdf 211.6 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022 NCFO Operators File _ BTS Data Inventory.pdf application/pdf 261.5 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022 NCFO Segments File _ BTS Data Inventory.pdf application/pdf 204.4 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022 NCFO Terminals File _ BTS Data Inventory.pdf application/pdf 199.9 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022 NCFO Vessels File _ BTS Data Inventory.pdf application/pdf 207 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022_NCFO_Operator_Segments_File_20251009.csv text/csv 80.6 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022_NCFO_Operators_File_20251009.csv text/csv 41 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022_NCFO_Segments_File_20251009.csv text/csv 50.8 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022_NCFO_Terminals_File_20251009.csv text/csv 88.8 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM
2022_NCFO_Vessels_File_20251009.csv text/csv 98.2 KB 10/09/2025 07:58:AM

Project Citation: 

United States Department of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO) 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-10-09. https://doi.org/10.3886/E238706V1

Project Description

Project Title:  View help for Project Title National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO) 2022
Summary:  View help for Summary
The National Ferry Database contains the comprehensive data results of the National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO).  The database is divided into 5 datasets.  The most common identifier among all the datasets is OPERATOR_ID. The exception to this is the segments file. For methodology see "response rate" in Methodology section below.
For reference on each data variable, please consult the included Data Dictionary. 
The included datasets are the results of the 2022 NCFO.  The data captured by the 2022 NCFO represent calendar year 2022 operational data from the 139 (57%) of known U.S. ferry operators that completed the census. 

Please note that there is an empty data set with reference to the same data (https://www.datalumos.org/datalumos/project/235145/version/V1/view) .

Original Distribution URL:  View help for Original Distribution URL https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/2022-NCFO-Data-Files/tpws-52ei

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms ferry; transportation
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/2022 – 12/2022
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 5/2023 – 12/2023
Universe:  View help for Universe Ferry Operators
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) census/enumeration data
Collection Notes:  View help for Collection Notes complete responses from 139 of the 240 in-service ferry operations

Methodology

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate
The NCFO is a census of all known ferry boat operations running within and to the United States and its territories, encompassing the 50 States, Washington DC, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to the ferry operations providing domestic service within the United States and to its territories, operations providing service to and from the United States are also included. The scope of ferry operations included in the NCFO comprises those operators providing itinerant, fixed route, common carrier passenger and/or vehicle ferry service as well as railroad car float operations.
Operations that were exclusively non-itinerant, such as excursion services (e.g., whale watches, casino boats, day cruises, dinner cruises, etc.), passenger-only water taxi services not operating on a fixed route, and LoLo (Lift-on/Lift-off) freight/auto carrier series were out of scope for the NCFO.
All 240 in-service ferry operations were encouraged to participate in the 2022 NCFO by an advance letter and follow-up email sent by BTS in May 2023. The letter and email provided unique log-in credentials for each ferry operation to respond online. Non-respondents were contacted by phone and email from July through December 2023 to further encourage participation and to offer questionnaire assistance. Non-respondents received up to three non-response phone calls and two emails over this time-period. Data collection was completed in December 2023.
The 2022 NCFO received complete responses from 139 of the 240 in-service ferry operations. The data provided from these 139 respondents is provided here. The analysis provided herein uses only reported numbers; missing information or responses designated as business-sensitive were not imputed or used to estimate totals.
Geographically, the 139 ferry operations represented 33 states, 2 U.S. territories, and 1 operation in Canada with routes to the U.S.
The vessel characteristics of the reported vessels were obtained from the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Vessels of the United States data. This data adds 11 variables to the dataset specific to vessel size, weight, and propulsion.
Several operators either did not provide passenger and/or vehicle boarding data or asked that the data they provided not be made public. Similar to the 2018 and 2020 NCFO, passenger and vehicle boarding estimates were not imputed in the 2022 NCFO. Thus, due to eligible operators who did not respond, as well as those choosing not to provide or make information public for select items, the numbers in this report likely underestimate the true total values. These underestimates would include vessels, terminals, segments and route-miles counts, and total passengers and vehicles boarding in calendar year 2022.
Over the years, the NCFO’s frame of operators has grown; however, due to an inconsistent responding population, care must be taken in comparing NCFO statistics from one census year to the next. Of the respondents that completed the 2020 and 2022 NCFOs, 123 ferry operators responded in both years. However, 43 operators responded to the 2020 NCFO but not to the 2022 NCFO, while 19 operators responded to the 2022 NCFO but not to the 2020 NCFO. One ferry operator responded to the NCFO for the first time in 2022.



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V1 [2025-10-09]

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