A
APIs Score

BC Ferries API

Beginner's Pick Transportation / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS CORS
Free to Use
79 B
Measured Score 0 50 100 Speed 20/30 Consistency 20/20 Security 20/20 Browser access 15/15 Transparency 4/15 TESTED 2026-08-10
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Overview

The BC Ferries API is a free, open API providing real-time sailing schedules, capacity, and current conditions for BC Ferries routes in British Columbia, Canada. No authentication is required, making it one of the easiest transportation APIs to start using immediately. It is ideal for building travel planners or commute tools for the BC coastal region.

Beginner Tip

Routes are identified by a departure terminal code and a destination terminal code such as TSA for Tsawwassen and SWB for Swartz Bay. Check the API documentation for the full list of terminal codes before making your first request.

Measurement Record

What actually happened when we called this API from our own infrastructure. Every value below was recorded by the request, not copied from the provider's documentation.

Request
GET https://bcferriesapi.ca/api/
Result
HTTP 200 · application/json · 19,626 bytes
Response time
147 ms (median of 3) · fastest 144 ms
Transport
TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 · certificate issued by Let's Encrypt
Browser CORS
Allowed — Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Served by
nginx/1.24.0 (Ubuntu)
Recorded
2026-08-10

Available Data

The kind of data this API exposes, based on its documentation. We could not call the endpoint to confirm the exact field names.

BC Ferries data via REST API

Captured Response

Captured from a real request to https://bcferriesapi.ca/api/ on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.

JSON Response · Captured 
{
  "BOW": {
    "HSB": {
      "sailingDuration": "0h 20m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "DUK": {
    "TSA": {
      "sailingDuration": "2h 0m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "FUL": {
    "SWB": {
      "sailingDuration": "00:35",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "HSB": {
    "BOW": {
      "sailingDuration": "0h 20m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    },
    "LNG": {
      "sailingDuration": "0h 42m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "LNG": {
    "HSB": {
      "sailingDuration": "0h 40m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "NAN": {
    "HSB": {
      "sailingDuration": "1h 42m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "SWB": {
    "FUL": {
      "sailingDuration": "0h 35m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    },
    "SGI": {
      "sailingDuration": "0h 42m",
      "sailings": [
        {
          "…": "(8 more fields)"
        }
      ]
    },
    "TSA": {
      "sailingDuration": "1h 35m",
      "sailings": [
       
…

Field Reference

sailings List of scheduled sailings for the requested route.

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

Request 
const url = "https://www.bcferriesapi.ca/v2/capacity/TSA/SWB/";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

404 Not Found The terminal code combination does not exist or is in the wrong order.
✓ Verify terminal codes in the documentation; the first code is always the departure terminal and the second is the destination.
Empty sailings array No sailings are scheduled for that route on the current day.
✓ Some routes operate seasonally; check the BC Ferries schedule for operating periods.
CORS error in browser Making the request from a browser frontend may be blocked by CORS policy.
✓ Route the request through your own backend server or verify in the docs whether CORS is enabled for the endpoint you are using.

Measured Score Breakdown

Live HTTP request to the API endpoint

Speed 20/30
Consistency 20/20
Security 20/20
Browser access 15/15
Transparency 4/15
Endpoint Response Time 147ms

Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026

How is this scored? →

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS YES
Category Transportation
Difficulty Beginner
Endpoint last called: 2026-08-10

Related Tags

#transportation

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