Ferry system recommends starting reservation system in San Juans

San Juans' travelers may use a reservation system within two years

WSF has recommended that a reservation system on the San Juans’ route be implemented as early as 2012. Previously, 2015 had been considered the earliest possible start date for a reservation system on the San Juans’ run.

After speaking to Department of Transportation’s Ferry Secretary David Moseley,  Ed Sutton, Chair of the Ferry Advisory Committee, conveyed this information to County Council Liaison Howie Rosenfeld, who plans to discuss the matter with the County Council today.

Since 2001, when the passage of Initiative 695 cut the Washington State Ferries (WSF) revenue stream by drastically reducing motor vehicle taxes, WSF has been researching how to obtain a reliable source of funding. Studies have shown that, throughout the WSF system, ferries are utilized at 68% capacity. That means that, all routes considered, 32% of the ferry’s vehicle-carrying capacity is not being used.

Sutton said, “The key challenge is to find a way to better utilize the capacity of assets we already have. We need to find strategies and procedures that make use of the [unused capacity of the ferries]. Unfortunately, every body wants to travel at the same time.

“But some people can take advantage of a reservation system; to spread out the demand is the whole concept.”

In the past year, the Edmonds-Kingston ferry run has been the subject of a ferry reservation study to investigate how a reservation system can achieve capacity use on the ferry runs already in operations.

However, in the process, two determinants have affected their decision to implement a full reservation system at the Anacortes-San Juans-Sidney route instead of Edmonds-Kingston.  Their findings have been included in a report that will be sent to the state legislature today.

First, WSF learned that the Edmonds-Kingston route is not a “discrete” route, in  that travel on that route affects the rest of the Kitsap County (including Bainbridge Island and Bremerton) “travel shed.” For example, if a Kingston boat is fully reserved, a driver may travel to Bainbridge Island or to Bremerton to catch a ferry to the Seattle area.

Second, WSF  “pushed the [San Juans route] to the front of the list because they found, when talking worldwide to ferry systems, that reservations work best when routes are longer, and fairly complicated,” Sutton said.

He added that the Mukilteo-Clinton and Fauntleroy-Vashon routes will probably be the last to implement a ferry system, if at all, because their runs have shorter routes and operate from smaller terminals.

Instead, WSF plans to upgrade the reservation systems in place already at Port Townsend-Whidbey Island and for travel to Sidney, B.C., as well as the semi-official reservation system in the San Juans for commercial vehicles. The expectation is that a complete reservation system on the San Juans route will be in effect by the summer of 2012, “with the intent of predictability and assurance,” said Sutton.

He hopes that the Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) can formulate an early-phase discussion group that reviews the WSF findings from the Edmonds-Kingston study “and see if their recommendations fit the way we live up here.

“I tend to be pro-active, I don’t wait around and see what’s going to happen. It’s advantageous to our community to ask, ‘What does this mean to us?’ Specifically, as it relates to tourism — why come up to the islands for a few days and sit in ferry lines for half a day on each side?”

Sutton adds, “The concept of assured travel is very positive for us to consider.” Starting in late winter, he proposes work groups with tourism agencies such as the San Juans’ Visitors Bureau and the Chambers of Commerce to comment on how the county can “best adapt to a reservation system in ways that serve us.

“The flip side is how that ‘rigidity,’ if you will, fits in with the spontaneity we’ve known for years.

“Discussion of a San Juans reservation system is preliminary, but it tips us off that as a community, we have to pay attention. No matter how it comes down, it’s going to dramatically affect our lives.”

For more information on the WSF reservations system, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/planning/vehiclereservations.htm