As once ‘quaint’ Pierce County island bustles, residents seek more ferry service

It was nearly noon on Friday, and Larry Schueler had been waiting for more than an hour in his truck to board the Anderson Island ferry from the mainland terminal in Steilacoom. He had to get there early. If he missed this ferry, the next one wouldn’t come until 2:45 p.m.

Schueler, who has been frequenting Anderson Island since 1968, remembers a time when a nine-car ferry would shuttle residents and visitors to and from the mainland. Over the decades the ferry grew in size to accommodate more traffic. Today Pierce County runs one vessel more than two dozen times a day morning to night during the spring, winter and fall months, according to its online schedule. A second ferry runs in the peak summer months on weekends and other high-traffic days. Each vessel can hold up to 54 cars and 250 people. The ferries also visit nearby Ketron Island a couple of times a day.

Despite a 64% increase in population growth on Anderson Island since 2015, Pierce County doesn’t plan to add any additional runs or ferries.

“As part of the ferry system’s operations, we regularly evaluate passenger and capacity levels to ensure we are meeting the needs of the community,” wrote county spokesperson Connor Davis in an email Sept. 12. “At this time, the County is not planning to add additional vessels to the system as we are meeting capacity demands.”

Many residents disagree, citing increased ferry traffic, longer wait times and more vacationers in recent years. Others worry that increasing ferry capacity would be expensive and only encourage more island visitors. Ferry rates already went up 3% in 2024, and another 5% in 2025 to address increasing operation costs. The current rate is $7.75 per walk on passenger and $23.75 for a passenger and vehicle up to 22 feet long.

Although most island residents are retirees, more younger people have moved to the island since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rate of new home construction has ballooned.

In the last decade, Pierce County approved an average of 16 new home permits each year, according to Pierce County staff. In 2015 the county approved seven housing permits. In 2025 that running total is 162.

There have been more vacation rentals registered, too.

Since the Pierce County Planning and Public Works Department began tracking vacation rentals in 2018, 38 have been registered on Anderson Island. Most of those, 16, were registered in 2021. Four were registered in 2020, six were registered in 2022, five were registered in 2023, eight in 2024 and one in 2025, according to the department.

Schueler said every new home built on the island likely means at least two more vehicles going back and forth regularly on the ferry. Jeremy Kamel, who is the chair of the Anderson Island Citizen Advisory Board (AICAB), said Monday there are about 1,500 people who live full-time on the island, but that number can swell to more than 5,000 in the summer months, on holidays and weekends.

“The county is not keeping up with the amount of population. Anderson Island is not that quaint little island anymore,” Schueler said. “We’re behind already.” Residents weigh possible solutions

Kamel, who moved to Anderson Island with his family from Puyallup four-and-a-half years ago, understands why people want to live on the island. The community is tight-knit, the parks and trails are peaceful and the land is cheaper than elsewhere in the county, Kamel said.

“But there’s been a lot of building,” he said. “We are certainly outgrowing our ferries, especially in the summertime.”

AICAB has discussed possible solutions to crowding and delays residents experience (which can worsen when construction vehicles and biweekly fuel runs limit the number of passenger vehicles that fit on the ferry). Jacob Anderson, who is AICAB’s treasurer, said Pierce County has addressed many of the ferry mechanical issues that left residents stranded a couple years ago. On Oct. 9, AICAB voted to reinstate its ferry committee, which will be meeting in the next 30 days to discuss recommended solutions that will be presented to the county, Kamel said.

County road funds make up the bulk of the Pierce County ferry system’s operation and capital costs, which are offset by ticket prices and grants.

“The challenge really is that the Road Fund is under a lot of pressure because your [property] taxes for the Road Fund can’t increase more than [1%] a year,” Anderson said. “So in an inflationary environment like the last five years, the Road Fund has come under stress.”

If Pierce County were to add additional runs or ferries, that likely would increase ticket prices year-round, Kamel said. Historically the state and federal government have matched funds to replace the ferries, but given the state budget crisis and the “political winds” that have changed in Washington D.C., that’s left some “big question marks on when funds might be available,” Kamel said.

Another issue is that parking is limited near the Steilacoom ferry terminal, Kamel said.

“If we were able to get 30 more spots down by the ferry terminal, and get more people parking and walking on the ferry — that would take a huge pressure off the ferry. I mean, that’s most of a run,” Kamel said, noting that the state Department of Social and Health Services owns land nearby that could maybe be used for parking as well.

In the future, Kamel said, residents want Pierce County to better communicate with them when a full ferry is expected, especially during peak commute times. This year AICAB will be discussing more efficient ways for the ferry to conduct its “triangle runs” when it stops at Ketron Island on its way between Anderson Island and Steilacoom, he said.

“The ferry is a big part of the [Pierce County] budget,” Kamel said. “We’ve got some hot button topics to discuss.”