Governor Releases Ferry Report with Recommendations

From the Governor’s office

[On Sept. 9, 2010], Gov. Chris Gregoire released a report she requested on the Washington State Ferries Division by experts from the Passenger Vessel Association that made 36 recommendations on many aspects of ferry operations. Gregoire also said a report by the State Auditor’s Office of ferries’ timekeeping and payroll system shows that all previous recommendations by the auditor have been completed and that a new timekeeping and payroll-processing system is needed.

Earlier this year, the governor asked the PVA to conduct a review of the state’s ferry system, the largest fleet in the United States with 21 ferries that carry nearly 23 million passengers a year to 20 ports of call.

The PVA report, delivered [on Sept. 8] to the governor and the Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division, includes recommendations to:

• Study its 5- to 10-year roster of capital projects and use an appropriate staff sizing over time to reduce the number of engineers and designers.
• Bid the construction of new vessels nationwide instead of only in-state.
• Institute a policy of automatic fare increases and give Washington State Ferries (WSF) the authority to set fares.
• Identify and implement a dedicated capital funding source for new vessel construction.
• Continue to evaluate the demand for extended hours of service and apply demand management tools as appropriate.
• Study the types of work performed by vessel crews while the vessel is in a shipyard and then determine the cost/benefit of this practice.
• Study ways to right-size crew levels when there are fewer passengers onboard.
• Conduct a pilot program in which only the chief engineer’s position is staffed 24 hours a day.

Gregoire said she is instructing Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and David Moseley, assistant secretary for WSF, to review the PVA report and, by Nov. 15, develop an action plan that outlines which recommendations they plan to implement.

“The ferry system has undertaken extensive reforms over the past two years, but we recognize that we have more work to do, and that’s why I asked for this comprehensive, independent review,” Gregoire said. “The report concludes that the ferry system is well run and is an industry leader, and it calls out areas where we could improve to see greater efficiencies.”

Gregoire noted that the report recommends the state consider studying the ferry governance model to determine if opportunities exist for positive change. Gregoire intends to ask the PVA to look at the issue of privatization and governance of WSF in a separate report.

The PVA report highlights many positive aspects of the Ferries Division, including:

• Its outstanding safety management system.
• Its trip-completion rate of more than 99 percent over the past decade.
• Its ability to maintain its aging assets: Almost half of WSF’s vessels are more than 40 years old.
• Its improvements in customer services, including increased public outreach and more timely and comprehensive notifications of service disruptions.

“We welcome all opportunities to improve operations and efficiencies at the ferry system,” said Transportation Secretary Hammond. “I personally want to thank John Groundwater, executive director of the PVA, and the panel members for their thoughtful analysis that will help us continue to improve our world-class ferry system.”

Moseley, of WSF, said, “I find this report welcome and helpful. It examines a number of issues we’ve struggled with and some new ideas. I assure you we will look at them all closely. We will also consult with our customers before making any changes to services and we will continue to work with our employees on those recommendations that can reduce the operating costs of the system.”

The PVA is the leading national organization for public and private ferry and other passenger-vessel agencies and businesses. It assembled a national expert review panel from throughout the United States to complete the report on WSF. PVA panel members included Chairman Darrell Bryan, Clipper Navigation Inc.; Jim DeSimone, Staten Island Ferry; Heath Gehrke, Cape May Lewes Ferry; Wayne Lamson, Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket Steamship Authority; and Jim Swindler, Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District Ferry Division.

Gregoire said she was pleased to learn from the State Auditor’s report that the Department of Transportation and the Ferries Division have responded to all previous recommendations related to timekeeping and payroll processing. The auditor concurred with earlier studies that determined that current timekeeping and payroll-processing systems for WSF do not support compliance with collective bargaining agreements or efficient, data-driven decision-making.

The PVA report is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/accountability and www.passengervessel.com. The State Auditor’s report is available at www.sao.wa.gov.