In its relentless search for ways to reduce costs, Washington State Ferries has found a new way to reduce crew complements on some of its vessels: Limit the number of passengers that will be carried. (And here I thought WSF’s mission was to carry customers.)
I wonder whether they’ve thought this idea all the way through: Ferries could further constrain passengers on its boats by carrying no one, place a similar limitation on vehicles, and thus eliminate all its crew members and save even more.
By Bob Distler
Orcas
As I read the statement from the County, what the ferry administrators decided to do was to address work schedules on those almost-empty ferry runs (late night, dead of winter, etc.) of the super-big ferries that have a long history of few people, and close the upper passenger lounge on them, thereby allowing the boats to run with one fewer crew member. If that’s the case, it seems eminently reasonable, because it’s based on passenger load data, and –I assume–would apply only to the outlier low-load runs that are regularly overstaffed now. The County press release does not suggest that the crew reduction would occur on runs that had a history of high or moderate passenger loads, and cause a reduction in the number of passengers allowed to board. Does anyone have more specific information from the ferry meeting?