WSF Weekly Report | 61,000 passengers in one day

||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

A message from Steve

Yesterday, I joined Governor-elect Ferguson, Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias, House Transportation Committee (HTC) Chair Jake Fey, and HTC members Representatives Dave Paul and Greg Nance, for focused conversations on WSF’s service. We attended a meeting in Clinton with Whidbey Island residents who are reliant on our service, with the governor-elect, legislators and I hearing their concerns and answering their questions. Governor-elect Ferguson also spent time meeting with WSF frontline employees – the Suquamish’s engine room crew, the Tokitae’s deck crew and terminal staff in Mukilteo and Clinton. I look forward to working with the governor-elect and his team when he takes office next week.

With Gov.-elect Ferguson and legislators at a meeting about our service on Whidbey Island yesterday.

Nearly 700,000 passengers served over the holidays

While many enjoyed time with family and friends over the holiday season, several of my colleagues stayed busy ensuring our ferries operated smoothly for those who depend on us. Their hard work made it possible for us to safely transport nearly 700,000 passengers between Dec. 20 and Jan. 1. Stay tuned for a full report on our 2024 ridership next week.

As expected, our peak days were centered around the weekend before and after Christmas Day. Saturday, Dec. 28, was our busiest with more than 61,000 passengers.

Governor’s budget plan backs workforce development, building and updating fleet

Gov. Jay Inslee released his proposed 2025-27 budgets last month. His plan supports our efforts to improve service reliability despite budget challenges. It continues funding workforce development programs that help hire and keep crew members. This includes helping current employees and people with no maritime experience to become licensed deck officers, one of the positions we’re most in need of. His transportation budget proposal also continues extra staffing on each operating vessel to help prevent last-minute service disruptions. It also funds improvements to our employee dispatch system to fill crew relief requests, customer communications, as well as terminal traffic control and security.

Gov. Inslee’s 2025-27 budget plan continues funding to supplement our Seattle/Bremerton route with additional Kitsap Transit passenger-only ferry service, so travelers have more reliable service and more options while the route remains on one-boat service. It also includes money to continue extra King County Water Taxi service between Vashon Island and downtown Seattle to supplement our Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route, which remains on a two-boat schedule instead of three.

The governor’s proposal also includes support for our efforts to build and update our aging fleet. It includes money to continue the hybrid-electric conversions of our three Jumbo Mark II ferries and construct five new hybrid-electric vessels. Lawmakers will review Gov. Inslee’s budget plan and Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson’s budget priorities during their 105-day session starting Monday, Jan. 13. Once approved and signed, the budgets will take effect on July 1.

Sailing stats for week of Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, Dec. 23-29 and Dec. 16-22

For the week of Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, we completed 99.5% of our 2,732 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 17 cancellations, eight were due to tidal currents, eight for terminal-related issues and one because of a schedule reset (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers).

For the week of Dec. 23-29, we completed 97.9% of our 2,790 scheduled sailings. Of the 68 cancellations, 31 were due to crewing, 12 for weather, 10 because of terminal-related issues (driftwood at Coupeville terminal), six due to tidal currents, five for vessels being out of service, two because of emergencies, one due to other miscellaneous reasons and one for a schedule reset.

For the week of Dec. 16-22, we completed 99.1% of our 2,789 scheduled sailings. Of the 30 cancellations, 12 were due to weather, six for schedule resets, five because of crewing, four due to terminal-related issues, two for tidal currents and one because of miscellaneous reasons.

Customer kudos

“RAVE to the two stellar Fauntleroy ferry workers who rescued us the day before Thanksgiving! Our battery died while waiting in line to go to Vashon for the long weekend, and we were ‘that car’ holding everyone up. The woman directing traffic onto the boat handled it all with grace and a smile and the woman who ran like lightning down from the tollbooth with a portable battery was just as awesome. They (Terminal Attendants Sue Miller and Katy Oliver) got us fired up and on the same boat in no time, and their attitudes made our day!”

-Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route customer in The Seattle Times

2024 Year in Review

I’m excited to share that our 2024 Year in Review will be sent out next week. Everyone subscribed to this newsletter will receive one in their inbox on Monday, Jan. 13. This annual recap highlights key achievements, milestones and moments from the past year as we reflect on our collective progress and successes.