||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||
Vehicle reservations for the fall 2024 schedule (September 22 through December 28) on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes will be available at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 23. The two-week and two-day releases will remain at 7 a.m. that day for the Anacortes/San Juan Islands reservations.
Virtual Waiting Room
To ensure a smooth and fair experience during this high-demand period, we will continue using the virtual waiting room. This system helps prevent website overload and guarantees equitable access for everyone. Here’s how it works:
- Pre-Queue Activation: Before reservations open, early visitors will enter a virtual holding area called the pre-queue. This reduces website strain and ensures a smoother experience for all users. Please note that the pre-queue will be activated 30 minutes prior to the reservation release at 9:30 a.m. Customers needing to make, change, or cancel reservations for the current summer schedule are advised to complete their transactions before 9:30 a.m. or later in the afternoon to avoid waiting with those making reservations for the fall schedule.
- Countdown Timer: While in the pre-queue, you will see a countdown timer showing how much time is left until reservations open.
- Randomized Entry: When reservations open, everyone in the pre-queue will be randomly assigned a position in the waiting room, giving all early visitors a fair chance.
- First-Come, First-Served: Visitors who arrive after reservations open will be placed in line on a first come, first served basis. You will see your place in line and the estimated wait time.
- Email Notification: You can opt to receive an email notification with a link to your place in line. This allows you to leave the site and return when it’s your turn. You can also monitor your estimated wait time from another device or location if needed. We recommend using the email notification option to ensure you always have a way back to your place in line.
Visit this webpage for more information about our reservations on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes.
Why the 10 a.m. slot and not the 7 a.m. spot? This seems unworkable for most people who work or are commuting to work. Who is the 10:00 time for? Not islanders.
In spring, I had to have a friend book my summer reservations- it was a mess – time consuming for her when she needed to book her own reservations. Bring back the 7 a.m. time!
Silly though this may sound, the 10 a.m. time is meant to avoid the daily 7 a.m. crunch two weeks and two days out!
It means the WSF website and/or its reservations software can’t handle a large volume of traffic. Sorta like computers in the 1990’s.
But why 10 a.m. and not 8 a.m.? Like why the 5 p.m. day-before cutoff for changing reservations or the two-hour cut-off for making reservations or the 30-minute cut-off for showing up at the tollbooth (especially if the boat is running late)? My answer is that someone who knows (or cares) very little about WSF customers’ needs or habits made these decisions that affect all of us.
A WSF staff member explained some of the reservation issues WSF is experiencing at the 17 July Ferry Advisory Committee meeting.
Basically, WSF reportedly used their IT people to set up the reservation system (2015 As I recall) since it was an experiment on a few routes. They wanted to see if the reservation concept worked.One objective of the reservation concept was to hopefully to spread the load of ferry traffic throughout the day, assuming riders would use the vessels when they could get reservations. For the most part, that has worked.The reservation system is considered a success.
BUT … as the software was in-house designed, it’s also VERY inefficient. So WSF’s has been looking for a qualified reservation vendor to completely reengineer the system. They are also looking at a ticket and reservation combined system. No venders to date have existing systems that match the needs of WSF’s and have not shown interest in designing a one-off system just for WSFs. But … there is a potential software individual who is interested in designing such a system … so exploratory discussions apparently soon to be underway.
Early target day was mentioned as late 2025 to possibly have a new reservation system in place, It was refreshing to hear a WSF manager actually say the existing system is not adequate.
I could add a list of other WSF inadequacies and not focusing on customers, but I’ll leave that for the many other users of the system to vent their observations. and opinions.
And just why-oh-why can’t they tell us that? Just be truthful. We can handle the truth!
And ferry riders are resourceful. Tell me there’s no a programmer in the WSF ridership.
Huh?!? I have the current 7:00 AM practice down to an exact routine so much so that I now wake up by 6:45 even on days my first cognitive reactions are not required for ferry reservation action. I’m not even sure what I mean by that. Hoping another read through will enlighten me about whatever has to happen at 10:00 AM. First read through leads me to think we have to sign up to wait to find out when we have to wait. That can’t be the whole truth can it?