||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||
The San Juan County and Town of Friday Harbor Councils are publishing an open letter sent to Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Roger Millar. The letter highlights the impacts of Washington State Ferry service disruptions county-wide and is co-signed by local boards and business representatives from across the islands. This letter is part of ongoing efforts to improve ferry service to the San Juan Islands.
Re: Impacts of Washington State Ferry service disruptions in San Juan County, WA
Dear Governor Inslee and Secretary Millar,
On behalf of the residents, business owners, and essential service providers in San Juan County and Town of Friday Harbor, many of which are co-signers to this letter, we are compelled to collectively bring to your attention the serious consequences of the significant disruptions to Washington State Ferries (WSF) service on the Anacortes / San Juan Islands route. The negative impacts of unpredictable and unreliable sailings and frequent cancellations caused by vessel and crew shortages, vessel maintenance and failures, and other persistent complications across the ferry system are compounding to critical levels. The evidence for this is mounting.
The County and Town of Friday Harbor Councils are committed to continue working with the Governor’s Office, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and WSF, and our legislative representatives on localized solutions.
As you are aware, San Juan County does not have a bridge or alternate driving route to the mainland or between islands. WSF sailings are heavily traveled by residents and tourists as the main transportation link to and from other islands and the mainland. Residents rely on the ferries for every aspect of life including: access to work, school, essential services, medical care, commerce, the courts, the county clerk, and other basic necessities of life. Tourists rely on the ferries to get to the destinations they booked and paid for, and to reliably return home.
Ferry service disruptions to the San Juan Islands have gone far beyond inconvenience for some time now. We are beginning to quantify the impact on our local economy and the well-being of residents. There is growing concern, based on a preliminary analysis of San Juan County’s sales and lodging tax data, that we are experiencing high losses of this critical revenue source due to ferry service disruptions. The negative perception and experience of riders of ferries across the system is well publicized by media outlets creating a disincentive for people to travel to these islands for tourism and move here for employment.
A County Community Health Assessment is currently generating data that confirms what we have heard repeatedly from the public — access to critical medical services for our residents is declining to life-threatening levels due to the unreliability of ferries when travelling for medical care on the mainland or to the only critical care unit in our County on San Juan Island. Residents are routinely forced to spend additional dollars, if they can afford to, to spend a night on the mainland before or after medical appointments and procedures.
Further data gathering and statistical analysis of the costs to this County and the Town of Friday Harbor of ferry service disruption is urgently needed. In the meantime, as the County further analyzes the lodging and sales tax figures and projected losses of revenue and compiles the community health assessment findings that information will be shared with your offices.
We understand that many of these issues are not unique to our route. Local mayors, county commissioners, state legislators, trade unions, and business and community leaders across the system are sending the same messages through the media and to legislators and begging for solutions.
However, given our geography, demographics and ridership, our reliance on the ferry system is unique which is why our County continues to work closely with our colleagues at WSF through our Ferry Advisory Committee to find localized solutions to mitigate and minimize the negative impacts of ferry disruptions on our route. We value the relationship we have with WSF and the practical operational efforts they are making to address issues and challenges experienced by residents on a regular basis.
We also appreciate that significant investments of State funds have been approved in recent legislative budgets for capital costs and operational improvements, including as much as $21 million since 2022 towards crewing and workforce funding. Governor, on your recent visit to Lopez Island, we appreciated your willingness to discuss the challenges outlined in this letter and openness to listen to localized solutions we are working to alleviate the hardships we are living with.
We would like to share a few of the short-term solutions that are being discussed in our County to address ferry service disruptions that would truly make a difference. We would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss them in detail with your staff:
- Increase the accessibility for priority medical loading within the islands and to/from Anacortes.
- Support the County in establishing a passenger-only ferry service between the islands.
- Establish a reliable emergency schedule.
- Provide financial support to the County and Town of Friday Harbor for data collection and analysis of the impacts to businesses and residents of ferry service disruptions on the Anacortes /San Juan Islands route.
- Incentivize residency for WSF crews within a reasonable distance from the Anacortes/San Juan Islands terminals.
- Establish a secondary on-call crew exclusive to the Anacortes/San Juan Island routes.
- Develop an Emergency Action Plan with local stakeholders (Town of Friday Harbor, San Juan County, other local agencies) to mitigate impacts of stranded commuters when vessels are cancelled unexpectedly.
- Partner with the Northwest Workforce Council, the County’s Economic Development Council, local trades programs and our school districts to promote interest in employment with WSF as a career.
- Examine the feasibility of increased wages for employees of WSF to be competitive given current workforce shortage conditions.
The Anacortes/San Juan Islands route is not expected to be fully restored by WSF until the end of this decade at the earliest. As new hybrid electric boats gradually materialize over the next 5 to 7 years, they will replace boats that are upwards of 60 to 70 years old that will need to be decommissioned. The 21-vessel fleet across the system will not increase. This is not sustainable for our County.
We request the opportunity to meet with members of your respective executive teams to explore the viability of some of our suggested solutions and many more localized ones that we are discussing with WSF on a monthly basis.
Thank you for your consideration of our concerns.
Sincerely,
Cindy Wolf, County Council Member, Chair
Jane Fuller, County Council Member, Vice-Chair
Christine Minney, County Council Member
Raymont C. Jackson, Mayor, Town of Friday Harbor
Steve Hushebeck, Town Council
Noel Monin, Town Council
Anna Maria de Freitas, Town Council
Mason Turnage, Town Council
Barbara Starr, Town Council
Co-signers:
San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee
Boards of the San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Hospital / Health Care Districts
Boards of the San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Fire Districts and EMS
Boards of the San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Family Resource Centers
Boards of the San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Chambers of Commerce
Boards of the San Juan, Orcas, Shaw, and Lopez Island School Districts
Board of the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau
Port of Friday Harbor, East Sound, and Lopez Island
Cc:
Patty Rubstello, Assistant Secretary WSDOT/Ferries Division
Senator Liz Lovelett, District 40
Representative Debra Lekanoff, District 40
Representative Alex Ramel, District 40
Representative Jake Fey, Chair of House Transportation Committee
Senator Steve Hobbs, Chair of Senate Transportation Committee
Senator Maria Cantwell, United States Senate
Senator Patty Murray, United States Senate
Representative Rick Larsen, United States House of Representatives
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THAT is a good letter.
Nice letter so kudos to those who wrote it. Sure hope it does something tangible. Situation is dire.
Finally!–and well-done, Council (despite an over-emphasis, IMO, on the aspect of tourist revenues). What we need is basic, reliable service for residents and suppliers. It strikes me that this letter ought to be cc’d, or a similar one written to Attorney General Bob Ferguson, our probable next governor, emphasizing the uniqueness of our Islands’ situation. I am tired of hearing fatuous legal arguments about equal treatment for equal taxes because the Ferries are part of the state highway system. Though this is certainly a political issue (east vs. west) it is not a legal one. Exceptions to similar laws and taxes are made all the time for cities and counties with sufficient clout. If the Ferries are a highway, they are our only one, and County residents deserve, at the least, priority in reservations and boarding before visitors and some local business that routinely cover themselves with multiple reservations. If we have to wait till the end of the decade for full service restoration, that should be a quick and easy fix.
Finally!–and well-done, Council (despite an over-emphasis, IMO, on the aspect of tourist revenues). What we need is basic, reliable service for residents and suppliers. It strikes me that this letter ought to be cc’d, or a similar one written to Attorney General Bob Ferguson, our probable next governor, emphasizing the uniqueness of our Islands’ situation. I am tired of hearing fatuous legal arguments about equal treatment for equal taxes because the Ferries are part of the state highway system. Though this is certainly a political issue (east vs. west) it is not a legal one. Exceptions to similar laws and taxes are made all the time for cities and counties with sufficient clout. If the Ferries are a highway, they are our only one, and County residents deserve, at the least, priority in reservations and boarding before visitors and some local business that routinely cover themselves with multiple reservations. If we have to wait till the end of the decade for full service restoration, that should be a quick and easy fix.
Great letter, but San Juan county is not the only issue with the Ferry system in Washington. I am a resident of Whidbey Island, and even though we can drive around to get off the Island to the mainland, it is very time consuming to drive around.
This ferry situation is absolutely horrible. We Islanders all experience this ferry mess! It has gotten worse rather than better. We too have all missed Medical appointments due to the system.
I do understand the boats occasionally break down, but more times than not it is due to Crew Shortages! Why???? What happened that they don’t have enough crews to staff the boats? I am certain every person who has to pay to ride the ferry has the same views.
Frustrated Islander!
It’s about time.
Can a lawsuit be filed against WSF or the State? We are sick the WSF problems which keep getting worse. As an elderly couple in Friday Harbor we may be forced to sell our home and move to the mainland to get reliable Healthcare. There is a contract with the state to provide ferry service to the Islands. It has been breached. Something must be done.
This last week there where only 14 of the 21 Ferry’s available for service, due to out of service repairs, refit or maintenance issues. Many of these Old Girls are 60 and 70 years old now. OH BY THE WAY THERE ARE NO NEW FERRY’S ON ORDER AND HAVEN’T BEEN SINCE 2017. Obviously this is by design, know one could be this out of touch with reality. Maybe it’s time to contract the Washington Ferry system out to the Canadian ferry system. Just a thought.
One thing not mentioned in the letter is the actual staffing level that should be scheduled for each ferry. Right now if a single member doesn’t show up, be it a captain, quartermaster, able bodied seaman, engine room staff or deckhand, the ferry doesn’t sail and needs to find an on call person. Getting this person to drive to Anacortes or worse, first drive to Anacortes, then catch a ride to another island terminal to join the rest of the crew on the vessel, so it can sail.
Perhaps we should have the most common positions be staffed with an N+1 redundancy, so an extra deck hand, an extra engine room person, etc….perhaps not every position but at least this would make things less chaotic. I know this question was asked during the recent ferry hearings and the answer was that the state mandated staffing levels only allow for minimal staffing. If a ferry is cancelled and doesn’t sail, I would venture to say that the loss of revenue for not sailing and still having to pay the crew that showed up is much greater than paying for some level of redundancy. So, if the state staffing level is the restriction, perhaps lobby the legislature to make the necessary change to at least get the majority of sailings back on track. I fully realize that we don’t have spare captains laying around, so a sick or “sick of work” captain will still cause a cancellation, but hopefully those are fewer.
Great letter!
How about an out of the box idea:. A fast walk on passenger ferry to and from Bellingham; we need a larger labor pool for services given our lack of affordable housing.
Routes to Victoria or Port Townsend would be equally fantastic.
I agree with Issa; SJC needs to have at least two fast, electric ferries for passengers and light freight independent of the WSF system. Interisland, out-island and Anacortes, Bellingham and even Port Townsend runs. With reservations requiring county residency! Tourists can ride stand-by. For too long we have let automobiles dictate our infrastructure. Why move automobiles across the water when there are already plenty on both ends of the route? Move PEOPLE, not cars.
Maybe something like this? https://glosten.com/design/foil-ferry/
Cost to ride must be affordable.
Let’s be sure the State subsidized the fast ferries you propose. State has a responsibility to provide our “highway “.
If it increases tourism, I would vote “no.”
Thank You to Councilperson Fuller for bringing everyone together to make an affirmative statement of dissatisfaction to the Governor and Transportation Secretary Millar. Both need to stand up and explain to the citizens of San Juan County what their plan is to provide relief and assistance. Their continued lack of action can not go without notice.
I would’ve added a few cous words myself. Here on Whidbey.I can’t be polite about this topic and so I will just stop writing now.