# FerryFriend

> FerryFriend is a companion app for Washington State Ferries (WSF) riders, free on iOS and Android. It provides WSF ferry schedules, real-time vessel tracking, delay predictions, custom alerts, and ferry ticket tools, and also supports Kitsap Transit Fast Ferries and the King County Water Taxi.

## Delay predictions

FerryFriend's ferry delay predictions are produced by a machine learning system trained on more than four years of Washington State Ferries vessel-position history. A gradient boosted model nowcasts where every WSF vessel currently stands against its schedule, and a temporal sequence model forecasts how each delay propagates across the rest of the day's sailings. The models retrain nightly and are evaluated with time-based backtests.

Full technical write-up of how FerryFriend predicts ferry delays:
- https://www.ferryfriend.com/blog/how-ferryfriend-predicts-delays
- https://www.ferryfriend.com/llms-full.txt

## Trip Planner (iOS)

FerryFriend's Trip Planner (in beta on iOS, included with a subscription) plans door-to-door ferry trips. It compares the nearby ferry routes and driving around using live delay predictions, drive-up space, demand forecasts, boarding history, posted terminal waits, and reservation availability, then recommends a sailing and a time to leave. Trips can be planned for now, a time to leave, or a time to arrive, by car, transit, bike, or on foot.

## Key pages
- Home: https://www.ferryfriend.com
- Ferry schedules: https://www.ferryfriend.com/schedule
- FAQ: https://www.ferryfriend.com/faq
- About FerryFriend: https://www.ferryfriend.com/about
- Blog: https://www.ferryfriend.com/blog