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Passenger unhappiness remains a major challenge for Washington State Ferries, according to the results of a recent survey.
Members of the Washington Transportation Commission were briefed last week on the 2024 FROG survey of riders and non-riders. FROG stands for Ferry Riders Opinion Group. The survey was conducted between January and March.
Notable takeaways include major dissatisfaction for riders in what’s referred to as the triangle route: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth.
“On-time performance we know is a problem,” said WSF Assistant Secretary John Vezina. “The triangle is on a two-boat schedule that was supposed to be a 24-hour emergency schedule, that they’ve been on for almost three years. It means the boats are late because we don’t have a boat to add right now to restore three-boat service.”
Even worse, the route is sometimes reduced to a single ship because of breakdowns or crew unavailability.
A recent West Seattle Blog article detailed the frustrations for islanders, who formed Islanders for Ferry Action in September 2023.
It’s not the only route hurting. San Juan Island residents are often stranded without ships or delayed sailings, according to Salish Current.
Nearly 3,800 ferry riders and 544 non-riders took part in the FROG survey, with the number of riders on all routes saying they are either satisfied or mostly satisfied with service at 54%, which is down from 58% in 2023.
The Vashon triangle had the greatest percentage of riders saying they are dissatisfied with service, at 70%.
Survey Program Project Manager Chelsea Benning told the commission, “In 2024 we did see double the number of riders talking about maintenance issues.”
One of the commission members asked the presenters, “Are we doing anything to bring the dissatisfaction numbers down to single digits? I mean are we happy with that or are we doing anything about it?”
How about just ensuring there are sufficient boats and crew to do all scheduled sailings? And skip the hybrid upgrade so those boats can remain in service. I am skeptical that the emissions reductions percentages justify this upgrade.