Data & analysis
BC Ferry sailing history & fill % data
The busiest sailing pattern we've tracked
Based on 9,820 completed sailings tracked between July 9, 2026 and October 21, 2026, the Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands sailings on Wednesdays fill the most on average — reaching 98.3% peak vehicle-deck capacity across 13 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.
How often each route reaches 100%
Share of tracked sailings that reached 100% vehicle-deck capacity before departing. Across all routes, 4,662 of 9,820 sailings with a published capacity reading hit 100%. Sailings for which BC Ferries never published a capacity figure are excluded.
| Route | Sailings | Reached 100% | Share | Avg peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Point → Tsawwassen | 1,133 | 648 | 57% | 88.8% |
| Horseshoe Bay → Langdale | 1,493 | 236 | 16% | 62.8% |
| Langdale → Horseshoe Bay | 1,469 | 310 | 21% | 64.1% |
| Departure Bay → Horseshoe Bay | 1,002 | 682 | 68% | 90.1% |
| Swartz Bay → Tsawwassen | 1,753 | 969 | 55% | 89.4% |
| Tsawwassen → Duke Point | 1,012 | 626 | 62% | 89.4% |
| Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands | 196 | 69 | 35% | 71.8% |
| Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay | 1,762 | 1,122 | 64% | 90.9% |
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 | 93.1% (n=161) | 88% (n=161) | 87.7% (n=156) | 87.7% (n=166) | 87.6% (n=174) | 86% (n=151) | 91.4% (n=164) |
| Horseshoe Bay → Langdale | 57.8% (n=211) | 56.8% (n=220) | 59.8% (n=220) | 67.6% (n=230) | 75.7% (n=221) | 67.6% (n=185) | 53.7% (n=206) |
| Langdale → Horseshoe Bay | 71.7% (n=205) | 59.6% (n=205) | 59.2% (n=208) | 59.8% (n=216) | 56.1% (n=219) | 63.8% (n=196) | 78.1% (n=220) |
| Departure Bay → Horseshoe Bay | 93.8% (n=141) | 86.8% (n=135) | 85.7% (n=136) | 88.2% (n=145) | 88.2% (n=152) | 92.1% (n=150) | 95.8% (n=143) |
| Swartz Bay → Tsawwassen | 92.9% (n=233) | 88.6% (n=236) | 90.3% (n=250) | 88.2% (n=267) | 87.2% (n=268) | 85.8% (n=246) | 92.8% (n=253) |
| Tsawwassen → Duke Point | 92.8% (n=143) | 89% (n=143) | 88.9% (n=142) | 89.9% (n=151) | 88.2% (n=153) | 86.8% (n=133) | 90.2% (n=147) |
| Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands | 74.6% (n=20) | 90.2% (n=13) | 98.3% (n=13) | 97% (n=19) | 80.3% (n=46) | 56.2% (n=44) | 51.7% (n=41) |
| Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay | 96% (n=239) | 90.1% (n=243) | 89.9% (n=250) | 88.5% (n=260) | 87.8% (n=266) | 90.7% (n=246) | 93.6% (n=258) |
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 | 89.5% (n=437) | 94.3% (n=326) | 83% (n=370) |
| Horseshoe Bay → Langdale | 79.8% (n=408) | 70% (n=539) | 42.9% (n=546) |
| Langdale → Horseshoe Bay | 68.1% (n=515) | 72.3% (n=482) | 51.2% (n=472) |
| Departure Bay → Horseshoe Bay | 93% (n=401) | 96.7% (n=246) | 82.3% (n=355) |
| Swartz Bay → Tsawwassen | 86.6% (n=663) | 91.3% (n=541) | 90.8% (n=549) |
| Tsawwassen → Duke Point | 90.4% (n=426) | 96.3% (n=250) | 83.1% (n=336) |
| Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands | 89% (n=72) | 67.9% (n=46) | 58.2% (n=78) |
| Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay | 93.2% (n=656) | 91.6% (n=534) | 87.6% (n=572) |
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 | 76.3% | 72.6% | 99 |
| July 16, 2026 | 83.6% | 79.3% | 112 |
| July 17, 2026 | 85.3% | 80.6% | 108 |
| July 18, 2026 | 77.5% | 72.7% | 103 |
| July 19, 2026 | 87.2% | 84.1% | 108 |
| July 20, 2026 | 86.6% | 78.8% | 102 |
| July 21, 2026 | 76.1% | 71.3% | 113 |
| July 22, 2026 | 80.8% | 77.2% | 110 |
| July 23, 2026 | 88.9% | 85.4% | 98 |
| July 24, 2026 | 90.9% | 86.3% | 90 |
| July 25, 2026 | 82.3% | 76.4% | 99 |
| July 26, 2026 | 87.4% | 84.5% | 108 |
| July 27, 2026 | 83.9% | 77.1% | 102 |
| July 28, 2026 | 76.3% | 72% | 104 |
| July 29, 2026 | 85.1% | 81.9% | 101 |
| July 30, 2026 | 92.5% | 88.4% | 97 |
| July 31, 2026 | 91.9% | 86.3% | 92 |
| August 1, 2026 | 79.2% | 73.3% | 100 |
| August 2, 2026 | 83.3% | 78.7% | 107 |
| August 3, 2026 | 88.4% | 85.8% | 103 |
| August 4, 2026 | 88.8% | 83.5% | 100 |
| August 5, 2026 | 85% | 79.6% | 98 |
| August 6, 2026 | 89.6% | 84% | 95 |
| August 7, 2026 | 90.6% | 86.6% | 94 |
| August 8, 2026 | 87.3% | 82.5% | 96 |
| August 9, 2026 | 90% | 87.3% | 102 |
| August 10, 2026 | 89.9% | 84.5% | 97 |
| August 11, 2026 | 82.7% | 78.1% | 102 |
| August 12, 2026 | 83.5% | 79.4% | 106 |
| August 13, 2026 | 89.4% | 85.7% | 98 |
| August 14, 2026 | 92% | 86.6% | 92 |
| August 15, 2026 | 89.6% | 84.4% | 87 |
| August 16, 2026 | 92.1% | 89.1% | 90 |
| August 17, 2026 | 91.8% | 86.1% | 89 |
| August 18, 2026 | 81.1% | 75.2% | 100 |
| August 19, 2026 | 83.4% | 79% | 105 |
| August 20, 2026 | 89.8% | 84.5% | 109 |
| August 21, 2026 | 88.8% | 84.7% | 101 |
| August 22, 2026 | 85.8% | 80.9% | 95 |
| August 23, 2026 | 91% | 88.1% | 95 |
| August 24, 2026 | 89.4% | 83% | 95 |
| August 25, 2026 | 80.1% | 75.8% | 97 |
| August 26, 2026 | 80.6% | 76.8% | 100 |
| August 27, 2026 | 88% | 83.7% | 100 |
| August 28, 2026 | 88.2% | 81.7% | 103 |
| August 29, 2026 | 85.6% | 78.5% | 101 |
| August 30, 2026 | 86.4% | 84.1% | 104 |
| August 31, 2026 | 82.9% | 78.2% | 101 |
| September 1, 2026 | 75.7% | 69.3% | 106 |
| September 2, 2026 | 71.7% | 65.2% | 110 |
| September 3, 2026 | 80.2% | 74.8% | 113 |
| September 4, 2026 | 81.1% | 68.3% | 105 |
| September 5, 2026 | 76.3% | 67.8% | 105 |
| September 6, 2026 | 78.4% | 73.3% | 103 |
| September 7, 2026 | 84.4% | 81.7% | 114 |
| September 8, 2026 | 85.3% | 77.8% | 98 |
| September 9, 2026 | 80.9% | 73.7% | 90 |
| September 10, 2026 | 83.2% | 77.3% | 91 |
| September 11, 2026 | 83.2% | 76.8% | 100 |
| September 12, 2026 | 81.7% | 75.3% | 104 |
| September 13, 2026 | 86.3% | 83.1% | 114 |
| September 14, 2026 | 85.1% | 76.6% | 96 |
| September 15, 2026 | 76.3% | 69.3% | 95 |
| September 16, 2026 | 74.8% | 70.7% | 102 |
| September 17, 2026 | 83.4% | 77.8% | 100 |
| September 18, 2026 | 86.1% | 79.4% | 97 |
| September 19, 2026 | 81.6% | 75.3% | 96 |
| September 20, 2026 | 68% | 66.8% | 89 |
| September 21, 2026 | 72% | 69.6% | 60 |
| September 22, 2026 | 75.2% | 66.6% | 76 |
| September 23, 2026 | 77.6% | 70.5% | 78 |
| September 24, 2026 | 82.9% | 77% | 82 |
| September 25, 2026 | 87.6% | 80.3% | 88 |
| September 26, 2026 | 76.5% | 70.9% | 73 |
| September 27, 2026 | 85.9% | 81.2% | 84 |
| September 28, 2026 | 81% | 72.3% | 78 |
| September 29, 2026 | 73.2% | 66.6% | 76 |
| September 30, 2026 | 73.9% | 69.4% | 77 |
| October 1, 2026 | 77.5% | 69.8% | 78 |
| October 2, 2026 | 75.7% | 70.3% | 86 |
| October 3, 2026 | 74.6% | 67.3% | 72 |
| October 4, 2026 | 76.4% | 72.2% | 88 |
| October 5, 2026 | 74% | 66.8% | 79 |
| October 6, 2026 | 70.6% | 63.7% | 72 |
| October 7, 2026 | 75.4% | 70.4% | 74 |
| October 8, 2026 | 84.3% | 80.4% | 82 |
| October 9, 2026 | 92.1% | 85.5% | 88 |
| October 10, 2026 | 80.9% | 72.7% | 77 |
| October 11, 2026 | 73.9% | 67.3% | 79 |
| October 12, 2026 | 86.6% | 82.2% | 86 |
| October 13, 2026 | 88.8% | 81.4% | 73 |
| October 14, 2026 | 87% | 79.5% | 63 |
| October 15, 2026 | 87.3% | 80.9% | 66 |
| October 16, 2026 | 87.4% | 78.7% | 69 |
| October 17, 2026 | 79.1% | 70.4% | 60 |
| October 18, 2026 | 82.2% | 78.7% | 73 |
| October 19, 2026 | 78.6% | 69.4% | 66 |
| October 20, 2026 | 79% | 72.9% | 59 |
| October 21, 2026 | 83.1% | 76.2% | 62 |
Frequently asked questions
How full does the Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands ferry get on Wednesday?
Across 13 tracked sailings, the Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands route on Wednesdays averaged 98.3% 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, Tsawwassen → Southern Gulf Islands sailings on Sundays averaged 51.7% peak capacity across 41 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 81.1% peak capacity vs. 82.4% 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 85.9% peak capacity across tracked routes, and evening sailings (5 pm+) averaged 73.2%. Evening and late-afternoon crossings are typically the fullest of the day.
How many BC Ferries sailings does this history cover?
9,820 completed sailings between July 9, 2026 and October 21, 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: 9,820 completed sailings through October 21, 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.