The north-end ferry route now has one larger boat assigned to it, something state officials hope will reduce ferry lines during busy travel times.

The new vessel arrangement has been planned by Washington State Ferries (WSF) for some time, but went into effect on Monday. The route will now permanently have two 124-car Issaquah Class ferries and one 87-car Evergreen State Class ferry, compared to the previous arrangement of one larger boat and two smaller boats. The route is now sailing with the Chelan, the Evergreen State and the Cathlamet, though the exact boat assignments could change.

For years, the tightly scheduled triangle route has been plagued by delays, particularly during peak travel times. Hoping to address the delays, WSF recently implemented a new schedule with slight adjustments to sailings times. Ferry officials hope the new schedule and new boat arrangement will work together to alleviate delays and long lines at the dock.

“We’ll be tracking how the loads balance out between vessels,” said WSF spokeswoman Marta Coursey, “but we expect that the lines should be shorter during peak travel times as a result of having a larger vessel on that route.”