— from Penny Buttke —
When the ferry reservation system is implemented, 90% of ferry space to San Juan Islands will be allocated to reservations leaving 10% for unreserved space. Reservations can be made two months in advance. While this distribution might be working well for the Port Townsend run, it will not work for our Islands during the peak tourist season because a disproportionate number of our summer visitors are attending large group functions that are planned months in advance.
For better or worse, we have become a big wedding destination. Weddings are planned months if not years in advance, so reserving ferry space will be just another check-off on the wedding planner’s list. As a result, it is obvious that wedding attendees will be the primary recipients of 90% of prime-time reservations, leaving the rest of us to scramble for the leavings. Essentially, what is going to happen is that almost 90% of the summer ferry space will be charters for weddings.
I think a 60% reserved-40% unreserved distribution is a workable solution. This would encourage attendees to ride-share as they are now doing. With the assurance that guests can be accommodated, brides and planners will likely encourage their guests to leave their cars at Anacortes and double or triple up. Who knows, it might even improve the ferry space shortage.
I commend Penny for her very well thought out and excellently written letter. I absolutely agree with her conclusion, and recommend that EVERYONE go to https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/InfoDesk/CustomerFeedback and leave a complaint.
I, too, am very concerned about the upcoming reservation system. However, some details of the reservation system as it is currently stated on the WSDOT website should be noted.
While 90% of the tall height space will be available for reservation 1 – 2 months prior to season begins for all sailings for the season, only 30% of regular height space will be made available at that time (Release 1). Another 30% of regular height space will be made available for reservations 2 weeks before sailing (Release 2). The final 30% of regular height space will be made available for reservations 2 days before sailing (Release 3).
It seems that most wedding visitors will finalize their travel plans more than 2 weeks before sailing and certainly more than 2 days before sailing. And, we, locals, may need to do some planning to ensure that we have a space through the reservation system.
I have many concerns about the reservation system. However, that 90% of the ferry space will be wedding visitors isn’t one of them.
Good points, Ms. Buttke. And Thank you Michael Lewis for giving us all the URL for the WSF feedback line.