WSF Weekly Report | Shout out to employees who worked Thanksgiving weekend

||| FROM PATTY RUBSTELLO for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

Thankful to employees who worked over Thanksgiving weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! While many of us spent the long weekend with loved ones, many of our employees were hard at work making sure our customers got to and from their holiday destinations safely. I would like to recognize our dispatchers, terminal staff, vessel crews, engineers and Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility employees who worked over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Thank you to all my colleagues who worked over Thanksgiving weekend to maintain our vital transportation service.

Without the hard work and dedication of our employees, we would not have been able to carry nearly 260,000 people from Nov. 23-27. That’s an increase of about 37,000 from the previous Wednesday through Sunday and about 10,000 more than the same holiday period in 2021.

Kitsap Transit to operate additional Bremerton fast ferry service

The timing of full restoration of service on our Seattle/Bremerton route is dependent on the number of new licensed deck officers who complete training in early 2023. Until we can fully restore two-boat service on that run (currently estimated for trial in spring 2023), Kitsap Transit will temporarily operate an expanded passenger-only Bremerton Fast Ferry schedule starting today.

On weekdays, there are four additional morning roundtrips and three in the evening. Seven Saturday roundtrips have also been added. People who need to cross with a vehicle are limited to our current schedule or or have the option to take our Seattle/Bainbridge or Fauntleroy/Southworth routes. Thank you to Kitsap Transit as we continue to provide the best service we can with limited resources as we implement our Service Restoration Plan (PDF 794KB).

“I am writing to commend {Ticket Seller} Tom [Parker], the man who twice this month sold us our ticket from Fauntleroy to Southworth. Not only did he save us money by factoring in our ages and the size of our car, but he was both professional and personably engaging while helping us. Tom is the kind of person you hope [you] will encounter but so seldom do.”

-Fauntleroy/Southworth customer