For Bainbridge Island riders, the ferry news this fall is good on three fronts at once. Washington State Ferries moved ahead with a third hybrid-electric ferry.^[1] Construction is underway on the first of the three new boats.^[2] And the first converted hybrid in the fleet, the Wenatchee, is posting real fuel savings after a year of work.^[3] Put the reports side by side and they tell one story. More people are riding, the diesel burn makes the ferries the state's biggest agency emitter, and the first hybrid boat shows the change pays off in fuel. The plan is moving from paper to steel at the same time riders are coming back. The third boatThe newest step came at the end of October. Washington State Ferries moved ahead with the third hybrid-electric ferry.^[1] ABB received notice to proceed on the power package for that third boat.^[4] Eastern Shipbuilding Group will build the ferries.^[5] Each new boat will carry 1,500 passengers and 160 vehicles.^[6] Washington had already exercised its option to order the third ferry from Eastern.^[7] The state ordered it from the same Florida yard.^[8] Steel in FloridaThe work started this summer. Washington State Ferries held a first steel cutting ceremony in Panama City, Florida.^[9] Eastern Shipbuilding Group began building the first new hybrid-electric ferry in August 2026.^[10] It is the first new state ferry to start construction in more than ten years.^[11] The first boat has a name. It will be called Wishkah.^[12] Delivery is scheduled for summer 2030.^[13] The ferry system plans to put the first two new boats on the Mukilteo to Clinton route.^[14] The price was competitive. Eastern Shipbuilding's bid came in more than 30 percent below the competing bid from a Washington yard.^[15] The total contract value for the three ferries is $715 million.^[16] Ferry officials put the full cost of the three new hybrids at $1.15 billion.^[17] The boat already runningThe best evidence for the plan is a boat already in service. Crews replaced two of the Wenatchee's four 30-year-old diesel engines with battery banks.^[18] The conversion took 22 months, against a plan of 10.^[19] The converted Wenatchee returned to service in July 2025.^[20] It is the largest passenger ferry in the country to be electrified.^[21] The state calls it North America's largest hybrid-electric passenger vessel.^[22] After one full year of operation, the hybrid Wenatchee recorded 13 percent lower fuel burn.^[3] The conversion has saved about $1 million in fuel costs.^[23] Here is why that number matters. The ferry system burns about 19 million gallons of diesel a year.^[24] It is the largest greenhouse gas emitter among Washington state agencies.^[25] One converted boat has already saved about $1 million in fuel.^[23] The new boats are built to the same hybrid idea from the start.^[26] Riders are backThe boats are filling up. Summer 2026 was the busiest season for Washington State Ferries since before the COVID-19 pandemic.^[27] The system carried 378,476 riders over Labor Day weekend.^[28] Ridership grew by 500,000 riders year over year across the last two years.^[29] The service held up under the load. The ferry system completed 98 percent of its scheduled sailings in summer 2026.^[30] It ran 21 active vessels as of September.^[31] Those figures came out at the system's fall community meeting on Sept. 10.^[32] The scale is large. Washington State Ferries runs the largest ferry fleet in the United States.^[33] By passenger volume it is the largest ferry system in the country.^[34] It serves nearly 20 million passengers a year.^[35] Marine Link counts 21 vehicle ferries on 10 routes serving 20 terminals.^[36] Those boats carry about 10 million vehicles a year on top of the passengers.^[37] The fleet is old. Its average age is about 36 years.^[38] The system says it needs 24 vessels to run its schedule reliably.^[39] It has 21.^[31] The Island Wanderer puts Bainbridge at about 24,000 residents.^[40] Plugs at the dockThe hybrid boats need power at the terminals. Charging stations will go in at the Seattle, Bainbridge and Clinton terminals.^[41] Across the system, shore charging will be added at up to 16 terminals.^[42] Stemman-Technik was picked in November 2025 to supply the charging systems for the fleet.^[43] For the Seattle to Bainbridge run, that means both ends of the crossing are on the charging list.^[41] The long planThe goals are set years out. Washington State Ferries plans to move its fleet to hybrid-electric power by 2040.^[26] Up to 16 new hybrid-electric vessels are planned by then.^[44] The system targets a 70 percent cut in ferry greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.^[45] It aims for an emission-free fleet by 2050.^[46] State law requires state agencies to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.^[47] The plan has a paper trail in Olympia. The 2040 Long Range Plan went to the Legislature in January 2019.^[48] The System Electrification Plan followed in January 2021.^[49] The moneyThe program is large. The Ferry System Electrification Program has an estimated total cost of $6 billion.^[50] So far, $1.73 billion has been secured.^[51] The 2026 supplemental transportation budget did not fund more conversions of the Jumbo Mark II boats.^[52] A legislative workgroup must deliver ferry funding recommendations by Dec. 15, 2026.^[53] The estimates have moved over time. An earlier island account of the plan listed the program at $3.98 billion, with $1.68 billion funded.^[54][55] The state's current page lists $6 billion and $1.73 billion.^[50][51] The funded share has grown, and so has the estimate. What riders will noticeThe ferry system will not return retired vessels to active service.^[56] A Wi-Fi trial is running on the Chimacum and at the Bainbridge Island terminal.^[57] The bigger change is the direction. A system that is carrying more riders each year has one hybrid boat in service with proven savings, steel cut on the next one, and a third ordered.^{[29][23][9][1]} The Wishkah is due in summer 2030.^[58]