WSF Weekly Report | Gov. Inslee meeting; upcoming virtual meetings; Fall schedule begins Sunday; motorcycle Oyster Run Sunday

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

A message from Steve

I had the privilege of joining Gov. Jay Inslee in Friday Harbor on Tuesday to announce a significant addition to our San Juan Islands service. Thanks to emergency funding, the interisland ferry will run seven days a week this winter, instead of tying up over the weekend during this slower travel season. This change makes all vessel deck crew shifts permanent, helping with staffing and service in the long run by making it easier for workers to live in the San Juan Islands year-round. The expanded service is funded for just this winter, so we will need to work with legislators to secure additional money for future winter seasons.

With the interisland boat running on winter weekends, the three vessels operating out of Anacortes will no longer be responsible for moving interisland traffic, helping them to stay on schedule more reliably.

While I’m excited about this progress, what stands out to me most is how we got here. This solution wasn’t crafted in a conference room – it came from our crew out in the fleet. In our changing work culture, it’s so important for our employees to share ideas, and their feedback made a big difference. I thank them for speaking up.

We’re also working with a community task force to update our Anacortes/San Juan Islands route schedules. Our current timetables have not been revised in 10-15 years. We’re updating them to improve on-time performance and reliability, and to align with the vehicle reservations program that started in 2015.

Have a question? Ask us at virtual public meetings

Don’t forget – we’re hosting two virtual community meetings next week to talk about our busy peak summer travel season and provide an update on crewing and service reliability. Advance registration is required for the noon Tuesday, Sept. 24, and 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, meetings by clicking either time and date. Both meetings will cover the same material. Participants will be able to ask questions and provide comments. A recording of both meetings will be posted to our community participation page late next week.

Email us if you would like to send in questions ahead of the meetings.

Fall sailing schedule starts Sunday, Sept. 22

In three days, we’ll switch to our fall sailing schedule, which lasts until Dec. 28. The biggest change is on our Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route. The unscheduled third boat will now run on the weekend as well when crewing and a vessel are available, operating Saturday midmorning to afternoon and Sunday midday to early evening. We started using this boat on weekday mornings this summer to help move more riders and keep the two-boat schedule on time. There will also be the usual seasonal timetable changes on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands route and minor tweaks to our Edmonds/Kingston and Mukilteo/Clinton runs, mainly on the weekend.

On our Port Townsend/Coupeville route, Sunday, Oct. 13, will be the last day we sail the peak season 10 and 10:40 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday final round trip until next spring.

Building a stronger ferry system for the future

We have some good news when it comes to restoring pre-pandemic service levels. But it’s hard news. While full recovery will take time, we’re making changes now to make our system stronger for the future. We recently posted a blog that provides an update on where we are with our crewing and vessel availability challenges. Thank you for supporting our journey. Together, we’re creating a stronger ferry system.

Our employees work to always be ready for emergencies, which includes practicing firefighting.

Wenatchee now expected to return to service in 2025

A lot of work has been done to update Wenatchee over the past year. But there’s still more to do as we upgrade its aging propulsion system and convert it to hybrid-electric power. We initially estimated this work to take about a year, but we now expect Wenatchee to be back in service in summer 2025. We awarded a contract to Vigor in 2023 to convert our three largest ferries so they stay reliable for their 60-year lifespans. There are no issues with the technology itself, but we have faced some challenges working it into the existing vessel. The team is moving forward, and we’ll use what we learned on future vessel conversions. Once everything is installed, we’ll be ready to start system testing. Upgrading our three Jumbo Mark II ferries to hybrid electric will save 4.7 million gallons of diesel each year and cut emissions by about 95%.

This work on Wenatchee is part of a broader effort to electrify our fleet, reducing Jumbo Mark II diesel consumption by 4.7 million gallons a year and cutting emissions by 95% for our largest vessels. The $4 billion electrification program will convert six ferries, build 16 new hybrid vessels and electrify 16 terminals.

Regional Contracting Forum

Our staff met with many businesses at the annual Regional Contracting Forum at Seattle Center last week. The event gives people a chance to meet government contracting representatives and connect with contractors, consultants and suppliers. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth – both big and small businesses. We appreciate your interest in working with us on projects like terminal design and construction, our electrification program, and vendor opportunities at Colman Dock. We depend on these partnerships to help us build and operate our ferry system.

Yates Consulting Group President Henry Yates, a consultant with our electrification program, with our Construction Communicator Diane Rhodes and Marine Engineer Andrew Howard staff our booth at the Regional Contracting Forum.

Dozens of motorcycles on Whidbey Island routes Sunday, Sept. 22

The 41st Oyster Run in Anacortes will bring many motorcycles onto our ferries Sunday, Sept. 22, especially on our Mukilteo/Clinton and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes. Motorcyclists arriving at our Mukilteo and Clinton terminals may be required to line up with all other vehicles and load on a first-come, first-served basis due to high demand. If you’re traveling on our Port Townsend/Coupeville run, a vehicle reservation is strongly encouraged.

Sailing stats for week of Sept. 9-15

For the week of Sept. 9-15, we completed 98.2% of our 2,829 scheduled sailings. Of our 50 cancellations, 32 were due to crewing, 14 for schedule resets (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers), four because of schedule adjustments and two due to a vessel was out of service.

Customer kudos

“I just want to say that I was running very late for the outbound Bremerton ferry, and we pulled up to the toll booth as it was preparing to leave. The gentleman in the booth radioed the boat that they had one more vehicle, and they waited until I drove onto the ferry before closing the gate. I was very thankful and appreciative that they held the boat (even if it was just a minute) for us because I know they did not have to. We were meeting the other half of our group, who were already on the ferry, and that little bit of kindness made a huge difference to us. Thank you!”

-Seattle/Bremerton route customer