Ferries seemed to work pretty well before they were privatized.

Sure there were occasional delays, and busy periods. Have those gone away?

But I never once thought of booking a reservation outside a long weekend or holiday.

The corporation makes more money when every ferry is full. I suspect these ships will are only being added to the fleet because the data shows they will be completely full too. Probably bigger so they can squeeze more money out of their hostages while paying for fewer staff.