Ferry Traffic Down in 2011

After a very slow early summer, ridership on the Washington Island Ferry returned to normal in July, but the total number of passengers for the year is still down 5 percent.

Dick Purinton, the ferry line’s president, said ridership in July was up about 1 percent over 2010, aided in part by a calendar quirk that gave July five weekends. Vehicle traffic for the month was down 3 percent, which Purinton said may indicate that visitors are making more day trips.

The July totals were a reassuring rebound from May and June, when poor weather and high gas prices helped drive a 15 percent drop in passengers each month. For the year ferry vehicle traffic is down six percent.

“Sixty to sixty-five percent of our ridership for the year comes in July and August,” Purinton said, which means a stellar August could go a long way toward making up for a slow May and June. “The heat we’ve had may have primed people to get out on vacation, at least that’s what the optimist in me hopes.”