WSF Weekly Report | Apprenticeship program; spring reservations; ridership increase

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

A message from Steve

When I finished high school in England, Chevron sponsored me for a maritime deck officer apprenticeship. Without this opportunity, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Every maritime organization I’ve worked for since offered similar programs and could point to a group and say, “Those are our future captains.”

When I joined Washington State Ferries, I was surprised there wasn’t a similar program, so I strongly advocated with the governor and the legislature to create one. We teamed up with the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies to start a two-year apprenticeship program designed for WSF. It now covers full tuition, and each scholarship recipient gets a stipend while gaining sea experience on our ferries.

Our second cohort of WSF/MITAGS scholarship recipients started training Monday. I had an opportunity to talk with them and their instructors.

Interest in the program has been great. Our first group of scholarship recipients started last year, and the second began Monday. Out of 300 applicants, 12 were accepted into the program. It was inspiring to meet them on their first day and hear about their backgrounds. I look forward to watching their careers progress – some will be future captains and perhaps even a future assistant secretary for WSF!

Annual ridership increases by half a million in 2024

Our fewest canceled sailings since 2020 and a large boost in walk-on passengers helped raise our annual ridership to 19.1 million in 2024. That’s nearly 500,000 more than 2023, or an increase of 2.6%. Ridership is expected to keep growing as more people travel and service is added to routes that haven’t been fully restored to pre-pandemic levels. Read more about 2024’s ridership numbers and see route-by-route data in our recent news release.

We welcomed more than 224,000 more walk-on passengers last year than we did in 2023.

Spring vehicle reservations available 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29

Vehicle reservations for the spring sailing season (March 23 to June 14) on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes open at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29. Like summer and fall, we will be using a virtual waiting room to avoid website overload and ensure fair access during this busy time. If you are sent to the waiting room, you’ll see your place in line, estimated wait time, and the option to get a notification when it’s your turn to book.

Our Anacortes/San Juan Islands route will have a new spring schedule. Sailing times were updated for the first time in 10-15 years to improve on-time service. We’re finalizing the new summer schedule with a task force of San Juan Islands residents and will release it in plenty of time for the summer reservations release.

2025 legislative session begins

This year’s 105-day state legislative session kicked off on Monday. We look forward to working with Governor Ferguson, his team, and legislators as they develop budget priorities and programs to help WSF increase service and reliability. 

National Human Trafficking Prevention Month

It’s National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and to help stop this serious crime, we require all our new fleet employees to complete a course on “Ports to Freedom: Human Trafficking Prevention.” The training was developed by Seattle-based non-profit Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST). We have also partnered with BEST on their “Not Alone” campaign to empower people to leave situations of coercion and violence in the sex trades and at work. We’ve put up these campaign signs in our vessels and terminals. To learn more on human trafficking prevention, visit BEST’s website.

2024 Year in Review

Our 2024 Year in Review (PDF 670KB) arrived this week. Last year was full of outstanding work throughout our system and this recap visits some of the notable work and key achievements from 2024. As we continue our work to better serve our communities in 2025, join us on a final trip through the last year at Washington State Ferries. 

Sailing stats for week of Jan. 6-12

For the week of Jan. 6-12, we completed 99.4% of our 2,728 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 18 cancellations, 14 were for tidal currents, two due to vessels being out of service, one because of miscellaneous reason and one for 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).

Customer kudos

“Last week 2 or more employees of the ferry route from Southworth to Fauntleroy did an amazing thing. My friend left her phone in my car as she went off on a vacation. By the time I discovered it, her boat had left. The men at the dock arranged to have her phone safely sent on the next ferry. I was in a dither trying to figure out how to make it happen. But they handled the situation so well. … Thanks, guys (Terminal Attendants James Franklin and Brian Hodkinson), for your kind and capable service!

-Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route customer