The number of passengers travelling between Skidegate and Prince Rupert, and between Skidegate and Alliford Bay, continued to drop in December, according to the latest traffic statistics from BC Ferries.About 1,500 passengers travelled on the Skidegate-Rupert route this past December, a 9 percent drop from the number of passengers travelling in December 2010. The latest numbers bring the number of passengers travelling on the route so far this fiscal year (from April 1) to just over 29,000, a 6 percent decline from the same time period in 2010.On the shorter Skidegate-Alliford Bay route, about 5,000 passengers made the trip this December, 10 percent fewer than travelled in December 2010. So far this year, the number of passengers taking trips on the Kwuna comes to almost 75,000, which is almost 5 percent lower than in the same period last year.Throughout the entire fleet, BC Ferries has seen a 3 percent drop in passenger numbers so far this year.