Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) passenger totals show a long decline from 2014 through 2020, followed by a measured recovery through 2024. The system carried 188,006 passengers in 2024, including 145,292 on Southeast Alaska routes and 42,714 on Southwest Alaska routes. The Alaska Marine Highway System’s Annual Traffic Volume Report 2024 also records strong summer seasonality and substantial differences among ports.
Contents
- Systemwide passenger totals
- Southeast Alaska passenger totals
- Southwest Alaska passenger totals
- Monthly seasonality in 2024
- Southeast ports in 2024
- Southwest ports in 2024
Systemwide passenger totals
The annual systemwide series covers 2014 through 2024. These are AMHS passengers across the Southeast and Southwest route groupings reported for each year. The series reached its highest listed level in 2014, when AMHS carried 319,004 passengers. It then fell each year through 2020, when the reported total was 52,196 passengers.
Reading the years in order makes the change in scale clear. The listed totals move from 319,004 in 2014 to 288,133 in 2015, then 258,042 in 2016 and 244,748 in 2017. The next two reported totals were 237,609 in 2018 and 190,118 in 2019. The 2020 count of 52,196 is the lowest annual figure in the series, and the subsequent entries document recovery without returning to the earlier high levels.
The Alaska Marine Highway System report lists the following annual totals:
| Year | AMHS passengers |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 319,004 |
| 2015 | 288,133 |
| 2016 | 258,042 |
| 2017 | 244,748 |
| 2018 | 237,609 |
| 2019 | 190,118 |
| 2020 | 52,196 |
| 2021 | 118,212 |
| 2022 | 154,416 |
| 2023 | 181,182 |
| 2024 | 188,006 |
The post-2020 entries rise in sequence: 118,212 passengers in 2021, 154,416 in 2022, 181,182 in 2023, and 188,006 in 2024. The 2024 figure therefore sits above each reported total from 2020 through 2023, while remaining below the totals listed for 2014 through 2019. These figures describe recorded annual passenger counts; the report does not turn them into a forecast for later years.
For Alaska travel planning, the series is useful because it separates the scale of the ferry system from the experience at any one port. A system total can move differently from an individual community’s count, so the regional and port figures below provide necessary context.
Southeast Alaska passenger totals
Southeast Alaska routes accounted for the larger regional total in every year listed. The Southeast series began at 242,648 passengers in 2014 and reached 145,292 passengers in 2024. The Alaska Marine Highway System report records these annual Southeast route totals:
| Year | Southeast Alaska AMHS passengers |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 242,648 |
| 2015 | 223,000 |
| 2016 | 203,237 |
| 2017 | 200,559 |
| 2018 | 188,054 |
| 2019 | 152,310 |
| 2020 | 43,723 |
| 2021 | 86,602 |
| 2022 | 118,692 |
| 2023 | 137,718 |
| 2024 | 145,292 |
The regional count declined from 242,648 in 2014 to 43,723 in 2020. It then increased in each listed year from 2021 through 2024: 86,602, 118,692, 137,718, and 145,292 passengers respectively. The pattern is similar to the systemwide series, but the Southeast route figures show the larger passenger base within the reported AMHS regional breakdown.
The 2024 Southeast total is a route-region measure, while the port counts later in this article are embarking passengers at named locations. Those measures should not be treated as interchangeable: one describes the regional route grouping, and the other describes passengers recorded as embarking at particular ports.
Southwest Alaska passenger totals
Southwest Alaska routes carried 76,356 passengers in 2014, according to the Annual Traffic Volume Report 2024. The reported Southwest total then moved through 65,133 in 2015, 54,805 in 2016, and 44,189 in 2017. It was 49,555 in 2018 and 37,808 in 2019 before reaching 8,473 passengers in 2020.
The full Southwest series is:
| Year | Southwest Alaska AMHS passengers |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 76,356 |
| 2015 | 65,133 |
| 2016 | 54,805 |
| 2017 | 44,189 |
| 2018 | 49,555 |
| 2019 | 37,808 |
| 2020 | 8,473 |
| 2021 | 31,610 |
| 2022 | 35,724 |
| 2023 | 43,464 |
| 2024 | 42,714 |
Southwest passenger totals rose from 8,473 in 2020 to 31,610 in 2021 and 35,724 in 2022. The reported total reached 43,464 in 2023 and 42,714 in 2024. Thus, the Southwest series shows a small decrease between the two latest listed years, even as the systemwide and Southeast totals increased over the same period.
The regional series also illustrates why a single Alaska ferry statistic can be misleading. Southwest totals are distinct from Southeast totals, and the two route regions do not follow exactly the same year-to-year path. The 2018 Southwest total, for example, was 49,555 passengers, above the 2017 figure of 44,189, while the Southeast total moved from 200,559 to 188,054 over those years.
Monthly seasonality in 2024
AMHS passenger counts varied substantially by month in 2024. The Annual Traffic Volume Report 2024 records passengers across Southeast and Southwest routes, with the lowest listed monthly count in February at 8,935 and the highest in July at 29,759.
| Month in 2024 | AMHS passengers across Southeast and Southwest routes |
|---|---|
| January | 8,963 |
| February | 8,935 |
| March | 11,376 |
| April | 10,747 |
| May | 14,971 |
| June | 21,015 |
| July | 29,759 |
| August | 27,732 |
| September | 18,950 |
| October | 14,113 |
| November | 10,641 |
| December | 10,804 |
The monthly pattern rises into summer. Counts were 14,971 in May, 21,015 in June, 29,759 in July, and 27,732 in August. They then declined to 18,950 in September and 14,113 in October. The reported winter and early-spring counts were 8,963 in January, 8,935 in February, 11,376 in March, and 10,747 in April.
The highest monthly figure in the supplied 2024 series was July, followed by August. The lowest was February, narrowly below January. November and December were reported at 10,641 and 10,804 passengers. These figures identify seasonality in recorded passenger traffic; they do not by themselves establish why passengers traveled or predict future monthly demand.
Southeast ports in 2024
The 2024 port data identifies embarking AMHS passengers at eight Southeast locations. Juneau recorded 42,089 embarking passengers, the largest listed Southeast port count. Haines recorded 25,268, while Annette Bay recorded 15,946.
The remaining listed Southeast counts were 5,376 at Hoonah, 4,838 at Bellingham, 3,751 at Gustavus, 2,227 at Angoon, and 985 at Kake. The report’s port-level figures are:
| Southeast port | Embarking AMHS passengers in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Juneau | 42,089 |
| Haines | 25,268 |
| Annette Bay | 15,946 |
| Hoonah | 5,376 |
| Bellingham | 4,838 |
| Gustavus | 3,751 |
| Angoon | 2,227 |
| Kake | 985 |
Juneau and Haines are the two largest listed Southeast embarkation points in this set, followed by Annette Bay. The range extends from 42,089 at Juneau to 985 at Kake. Because these are embarking counts, they provide a port-level view rather than a complete measure of all passenger movements through each community.
Southwest ports in 2024
The 2024 Southwest port figures show a wide range of embarking passenger counts. Cordova recorded 2,848 passengers and Homer recorded 3,659, making them the two largest Southwest locations included in the supplied port data.
The other listed ports recorded much smaller counts: Chenega Bay had 59 embarking passengers, Cold Bay had 46, Dutch Harbor had 26, Chignik had 23, Akutan had 7, and False Pass had 3.
| Southwest port | Embarking AMHS passengers in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Homer | 3,659 |
| Cordova | 2,848 |
| Chenega Bay | 59 |
| Cold Bay | 46 |
| Dutch Harbor | 26 |
| Chignik | 23 |
| Akutan | 7 |
| False Pass | 3 |
The contrast within the Southwest list is pronounced: Homer and Cordova are reported in the thousands, while Akutan and False Pass are reported in single digits. The figures are specific to 2024 embarking passengers at the named ports, so they should be read alongside—not substituted for—the annual Southwest route totals.
For readers comparing Alaska ferry options, the practical takeaway from these statistics is that passenger traffic has three distinct dimensions: annual system scale, regional route activity, and local embarkation patterns. The 2024 report provides all three views, along with monthly counts that show the strongest recorded activity in July and August.