Data & analysis
BC Ferry sailing history & fill % data
The busiest sailing pattern we've tracked
Based on 1,000 completed sailings tracked between July 9, 2026 and July 19, 2026, the Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay sailings on Mondays fill the most on average — reaching 99.4% peak vehicle-deck capacity across 16 tracked sailings.
"Peak capacity" is the highest fill percentage BC Ferries reported for a sailing before it departed — a truer measure of "did it fill up?" than the number displayed at departure.
Average fill % by day of week, per route
Mean peak vehicle-deck capacity for each route, grouped by day of week.
| Route | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Point → Tsawwassen | 97% (n=10) | 85.2% (n=10) | 83.3% (n=10) | 57.8% (n=26) | 56.3% (n=33) | 74.9% (n=20) | 94.8% (n=10) |
| Horseshoe Bay → Langdale | 60.6% (n=13) | 54.7% (n=13) | 59.2% (n=13) | 43.4% (n=33) | 49.4% (n=40) | 56.1% (n=24) | 45.9% (n=13) |
| Langdale → Horseshoe Bay | 60.9% (n=13) | 51.4% (n=13) | 52.2% (n=13) | 36.7% (n=29) | 38.5% (n=35) | 53% (n=24) | 63.2% (n=15) |
| Departure Bay → Horseshoe Bay | 98.6% (n=8) | 85.5% (n=8) | 86.4% (n=8) | 60.2% (n=22) | 59.2% (n=25) | 89% (n=16) | 97.3% (n=8) |
| Swartz Bay → Tsawwassen | 92.6% (n=16) | 78.1% (n=16) | 85.8% (n=16) | 56% (n=42) | 55.9% (n=55) | 83.3% (n=32) | 94.1% (n=18) |
| Tsawwassen → Duke Point | 97.7% (n=9) | 91.2% (n=9) | 92.7% (n=9) | 65% (n=24) | 59.1% (n=30) | 83.8% (n=18) | 96.4% (n=9) |
| Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay | 99.4% (n=16) | 91.3% (n=16) | 90.1% (n=16) | 57.5% (n=42) | 59% (n=53) | 88.7% (n=32) | 94.5% (n=17) |
Average fill % by departure time of day, per route
Sailings grouped into morning (before noon), afternoon (12–5 pm), and evening (5 pm+).
| Route | Morning (before noon) | Afternoon (12–5 pm) | Evening (5 pm+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Point → Tsawwassen | 66.1% (n=50) | 78% (n=35) | 71.4% (n=34) |
| Horseshoe Bay → Langdale | 63.3% (n=48) | 50.1% (n=57) | 39.2% (n=44) |
| Langdale → Horseshoe Bay | 45% (n=57) | 47.9% (n=54) | 52.4% (n=31) |
| Departure Bay → Horseshoe Bay | 78.2% (n=36) | 82.6% (n=23) | 68.2% (n=36) |
| Swartz Bay → Tsawwassen | 65.8% (n=76) | 73.4% (n=58) | 75.9% (n=61) |
| Tsawwassen → Duke Point | 77.2% (n=49) | 82.6% (n=23) | 71.1% (n=36) |
| Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay | 76.5% (n=72) | 75.9% (n=59) | 73.7% (n=61) |
Fill % trend over time (all routes combined)
Early data — collection began July 9, 2026. Treat these as a starting baseline, not a mature seasonal trend.
| Date | Avg peak fill % | Avg final fill % | Sailings |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 9, 2026 | 32.9% | 28.2% | 133 |
| July 10, 2026 | 38.5% | 35.8% | 186 |
| July 11, 2026 | 71.8% | 68.3% | 83 |
| July 12, 2026 | 83.2% | 78.7% | 88 |
| July 13, 2026 | 85.8% | 79.5% | 85 |
| July 14, 2026 | 75.8% | 73.4% | 85 |
| July 15, 2026 | 77.9% | 74.2% | 85 |
| July 16, 2026 | 85.6% | 82.2% | 85 |
| July 17, 2026 | 87.9% | 84.6% | 85 |
| July 18, 2026 | 79.4% | 75.4% | 83 |
| July 19, 2026 | 60.5% | 52% | 2 |
Frequently asked questions
How full does the Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay ferry get on Monday?
Across 16 tracked sailings, the Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay route on Mondays averaged 99.4% peak vehicle-deck capacity — the highest average of any route/day combination in our current dataset.
What's the least busy BC ferry sailing?
In our current sample, Langdale → Horseshoe Bay sailings on Thursdays averaged 36.7% peak capacity across 29 tracked crossings — the lowest average day-of-week/route combination on record.
Does the ferry fill up on weekdays?
Yes — weekdays are not automatically quiet. Across all tracked routes, weekday (Mon–Fri) sailings averaged 62.7% peak capacity vs. 78.1% on weekends in our current dataset. Popular commuter and afternoon sailings routinely fill on weekdays too.
Are morning or evening BC Ferries sailings busier?
In our data, morning sailings (before noon) averaged 67.0% peak capacity across tracked routes, and evening sailings (5 pm+) averaged 65.7%. Evening and late-afternoon crossings are typically the fullest of the day.
How many BC Ferries sailings does this history cover?
1,000 completed sailings between July 9, 2026 and July 19, 2026, aggregated from our own 5-minute polling of the public BC Ferries capacity feed.
Methodology & honest caveats
- Source: our own polling of the public BC Ferries capacity feed (via bcferriesapi.ca), every 5 minutes. Not affiliated with BC Ferries.
- Collection start: July 9, 2026.
- Current sample: 1,000 completed sailings through July 19, 2026.
- Young dataset caveat: ~10 days of history means each day-of-week has only 1–2 observations per route so far. Averages will stabilise over the coming months. We are not claiming a seasonal trend from this window.
- "Peak fill %": highest vehicle-deck percentage BC Ferries reported for a sailing before it departed. This is more meaningful than the number at departure, because full sailings often show 100% until vehicles start loading and then drop.
Always confirm with bcferries.com before travelling. Live capacity for today's sailings is on the homepage.