WSF Weekly Report | Reducing fleet age; week without driving challenge; Nevey’s 5-year anniversary

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

A message from Steve

Today marks my five-year anniversary at Washington State Ferries. I joined WSF in 2021 as operations director and stepped into my current role in the spring of 2024. When I arrived, we were facing unprecedented crew shortages and struggling to put 11 or 12 of our 18 scheduled ferries into service on any given day. Drawing on my private sector experience developing maritime crews, we worked with our labor partners, the Governor’s Office and the Legislature to build and fund stronger training and career pipelines. Five years later, we have restored 18-boat service, made significant progress in strengthening our workforce, which has led to few cancellations due to crewing, and dramatically reduced retirement risk in our senior fleet positions.

Every sailing starts with the people who keep our ferries moving. Deck crews work together to get a vessel safely underway and keep Washington moving forward.

When I took on this role in 2024, I wrote in The Seattle Times that my commitment was to restore service to the levels our customers expect while putting long-term solutions in place to make WSF reliable for decades to come. At the time, I identified two of our greatest challenges: licensed maritime workers and the need for new ferries. We have made significant progress on our workforce challenge, with crew-related cancellations improving substantially year over year. We know that doesn’t mean the problem has disappeared. We still experience crew-related cancellations, and we know that for the customer waiting to get to work, a medical appointment, or a flight at SEA, one canceled sailing is one too many.

Tillikum, our oldest ferry, was built in 1959 and has served the region for nearly seven decades. Replacing aging vessels is a key part of building a more reliable ferry system for the future.

The biggest challenge now facing Washington State Ferries is reducing the average age of our fleet. As our vessels get older, breakdowns become more frequent, maintenance becomes more challenging, and replacement parts become harder to source. The long-term solution is to bring new ferries into the fleet, and we are finally on a path to doing that. New vessels are under contract, more are planned, and over the coming years we will begin bringing down the average age of our fleet and building the ferry system Washington needs for the future.

On Aug. 6, construction officially began on our first new ferry in nearly a decade. Here, a CNC cutting machine uses an intense plasma torch to cut large steel plates into the precise shapes needed to build the vessel.

None of this progress happens without the people who show up every day to make Washington State Ferries successful. From the crews operating and maintaining our vessels to our terminal, maintenance and shoreside teams, my colleagues and I work every day to keep Washington moving. I am incredibly grateful for what they have accomplished over these past five years and excited about the work still ahead of us.

Edmonds/Kingston route closed overnight Oct. 6-7

A railroad closure in Edmonds will require an overnight suspension of our Edmonds/Kingston route Oct. 6-7. BNSF needs to make track repairs that will block access to our dock at Edmonds. This means there’s no safe way to keep ferry service running during the work. The last sailing will leave Kingston at 6:10 p.m. and Edmonds at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6. Service is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning, Oct. 7, with the first sailings leaving Kingston at 9:35 a.m. and Edmonds at 10:20 a.m. These times depend on the railroad crossing reopening as planned. Walk-on passengers travelling to and from the Seattle area can consider the Kingston Fast Ferry. Other customers should plan to use another ferry route or make other travel plans. I know this closure may disrupt your plans, and I appreciate your patience while this necessary work takes place.

Aerial view of our Edmonds terminal and the nearby railroad crossing at Main Street and Railroad Avenue. That’s where BNSF track repairs will block access to the dock and suspend service to and from Kingston overnight Oct. 6-7.

Week Without Driving, Oct. 1-8

Over the next week, our agency is taking part in the national Week Without Driving challenge, which runs today through Thursday, Oct. 8. The challenge gives us a chance to see what getting around without a car is like. It also helps us better understand the challenges many people face every day. Nearly a third of Americans rely on walking, biking, public transit or help from others to get where they need to go. For Washington State Ferries, this is a reminder of how important safe, reliable and connected transportation is. By understanding our customers’ experiences, we can better serve them and make our system welcoming and accessible to everyone.

Every passenger has a different journey. Week Without Driving gives us a chance to better understand those experiences and how reliable ferry service connects people to their communities.

Share your ferry experience in new survey

How is your experience riding on our ferries? The Washington State Transportation Commission wants to hear from you. A new Ferry Riders Opinion Group survey is now live. Whether you ride our ferries every week or only now and then, your feedback can help the commission understand what’s working well and where there is room to improve. You can also join the Ferry Riders Opinion Group to take part in future surveys. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and help shape the future of ferry service.

Sailing stats for week of Sept. 21-27

For the week of Sept. 21-27, we completed 97.3% of our 3,135 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 84 cancellations, 66 were due to crewing, six because of schedule resets (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers), five for vessel-related issues, three due to terminal-related issues, two because of tidal currents and two for emergencies.

For comparison, during a similar week last year (Sept. 22-28, 2025), we completed 99.8% of our 3,113 scheduled sailings. Of the seven cancellations that week, four were due to schedule resets, two because of vessel-related issues and one for other miscellaneous reasons.

Customer kudos

“I wanted to send a quick note to recognize Ginny, who was working toll booth 1 at the Mukilteo terminal today around 3 PM.

“I am a regular medical pass commuter. Using the pass can be a very uncomfortable and intimidating experience, especially with the stress of driving past long lines of waiting drivers.

“Ginny stood out today because she handled my pass with a straightforward professional sincerity. She introduced herself, and her authentic approach helped me feel respected during an otherwise stressful part of my commute.. and today was an especially hard day.

“Therefore, I am taking the time to communicate my gratitude.”

-Mukilteo/Clinton route customer