WSF Weekly Report | Pizza box in the rain; reservations to open next week; work zone cameras

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

A message from Steve

Sometimes, it’s the small gestures that reveal who we are becoming as an organization. Ordinary Sailor Evan Tarbell recently bought pizza for his crew, a kind and thoughtful gesture. But what he did next was even more special. As Evan picked up the pizza at Vashon terminal, a sudden downpour began. Seeing one of the students who boards daily caught in the rain, Evan quickly used the pizza boxes as a makeshift umbrella to shield the child from getting soaked. In that moment, he showed care, creativity and a clear sense of responsibility – not just to his team, but to the community we serve.

Seeing Evan’s act of kindness, his captain, Clinton Jones took this picture to share the gratitude he felt for his crew’s great customer service.

Evan’s actions are a great example of what our culture shift at Washington State Ferries is all about. Everyone – no matter their job – should feel like they can make a difference. We are working hard to foster a culture where every employee understands how their daily choices align with our strategic priorities of Service Excellence, Improved Communication and Empowered People. With shared values like Serve, Respect, Grow, Trust and Navigate as our foundation, we are building a future where our workforce feels empowered to lead by example – just like Evan did.

Summer vehicle reservations release moved to 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 22

We have postponed our two-month release of vehicle reservations for our summer season (June 15 to Sept. 20) on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands or Port Townsend/Coupeville routes. They were scheduled to be available at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Due to issues with the virtual waiting room, we pushed back the release to 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 22. The virtual waiting room helps avoid website overload and ensures fair access. 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.

Tuesday’s two-month release of vehicle reservations for our summer season has been rescheduled to 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 22.

“Triangle” route 2-boat schedule update open house closes soon

You have just one day left to weigh in on updates to the two-boat schedule for our Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route. Tomorrow, April 18, is the last day to visit the online open house that shares our plan to make service on the “Triangle” run more reliable. Our current two-boat schedule was originally made for rare emergencies and hasn’t been updated in 10 years. We’ve been forced to use it most of the time since 2020 due to ferry and crew shortages. This summer, the route will return to the three-boat schedule we debuted in 2019 following a robust community engagement effort. However, we may at times, still need to drop to two boats. That’s why we want to make sure this backup schedule provides as much service as possible and meets our customers’ needs.

Updating the two-boat schedule is an important step in providing more reliable service for the 2.3 million passengers who depend on the “Triangle” route. It connects West Seattle, South Kitsap County/Southworth and Vashon-Maury Islands.

SR 305 Bainbridge Island weekday and weeknight delays

Travelers on State Route 305 in Bainbridge Island can expect up to 15-minute weekday and weeknight delays starting next week. There will be shoulder and single-lane closures with traffic in each direction alternating at various locations on the highway between Sportsman Club Road and the ferry dock. These closures will happen at intermittent times from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Weeknight closures are scheduled to wrap up on the morning of Friday, May 2. Weekday closures are set to end on Thursday, May 15. Crews will be drilling to collect soil samples for our upcoming Bainbridge terminal electrification project. Construction to bring power to the facility and vessels is scheduled to start in 2027.  This work is part of our larger system electrification program.

National Work Zone Awareness Week

Our agency is focusing on work zone safety throughout April. That’s because National Work Zone Awareness Week is coming up, April 21-25. This is a week to remind everyone to think about safety and mobility in work zones – for both drivers and workers. It’s also a chance to share stories from our frontline crews, work with our partners to spread the word and most importantly, ask drivers to slow down in work zones. Our terminals and vessels are work zones too. Like highway crews, our terminal and vessel staff work near moving vehicles every day. We count on you to help keep them safe. Please slow down, stay alert, be kind and have patience when you’re near our crews – on land or on board.

This week, our agency launched a new tool to help keep workers safe on the job. Our first work zone speed camera went up yesterday on I-5 near Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The camera is mounted on a trailer and will move around the state, taking pictures of vehicles that are speeding through active work zones.

Sailing stats for week of April 7-13

For the week of April 7-13, we completed 98.8% of our 2,763 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 35 cancellations, 13 were due to crewing, 10 because of vessel-related issues, eight 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), two due to weather and two because of other miscellaneous reasons.

Customer kudos

“I wish I could remember all their names. The crew and terminal staff have always been a bright spot for me, going out of their ways to help. These are perhaps the best and most important assets of the ferry system.”