WSF Weekly Report | Summer reservations available; partnership with USCG; work zone awareness week

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

A message from Steve

Today we released our updated Service Contingency Plan. The plan explains our operations and how we’ll adjust when service is unexpectedly disrupted. This could happen because of mechanical problems with a ferry or a terminal. The plan shows how we decide which routes to prioritize, how we assign boats and crews and how we adjust service to keep as many sailings running as possible. Our goal is to reduce disruptions and help riders know what to expect when problems happen. This update builds on our 2025 plan, which outlined how we restored service on three routes last year.

Our Service Contingency Plan has a few main goals. It aims to give customers a clear idea of what service levels to expect. The plan also focuses on being open about why service changes are made and how decisions are reached. It works to keep service as consistent and reliable as possible. The plan also explains how updates will be shared with customers, community members and partners.

The updated plan also includes service during this summer’s FIFA World Cup, when more people are expected to travel. During that time, we will focus on short-term reliability and have extra boats and crews ready to respond quickly on our busiest routes. Our goal with this plan is to be transparent with riders by setting realistic expectations and clearly show how we’ll deliver as much service as possible. We thank our crews, dispatchers, engineers and support teams for their hard work. We’re focused on making progress, being honest and building a system where one unexpected breakdown doesn’t ripple across the entire system.

Vehicle reservations for summer sailing season available

On Tuesday, we opened vehicle reservations for our summer sailing season (June 14 through Sept. 20). This two-month advance release is by far our busiest of the year. Demand was very high right at 10 a.m., and we saw a brief slowdown in the first few minutes. Our IT team quickly resolved the issue within minutes. After that, the system performed well, handling more than 2,000 users at a time with fast response speeds. The virtual waiting room cleared by 10:40 a.m., 20 minutes earlier than our summer 2025 release. About 40,000 reservations were made in the first hour, up from roughly 30,000 last year. By the end of the day, about 65,000 reservations were made. Kudos to our IT professionals for their swift response and ongoing improvements. I also thank our customer service team for navigating through a high number of phone calls and emails throughout the day.

All summer sailing season vehicle reservation space for our Port Townsend/Coupeville route (80% for each sailing) is now available. For our Anacortes/San Juan Islands runs, 30% of vehicle reservations space is now available. Another 30% will open up at 7 a.m. two weeks before each specific sailing and the final 30% at 7 a.m. two days before.

Recognizing leadership and partnership with USCG Sector Puget Sound

Last Thursday, my deputy, Assistant Secretary John Vezina, and some of our executives met with U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound leaders for our quarterly meeting. We talked about several issues of mutual concern. After the meeting, John gave Sector Commander Capt. Mark McDonnell a WSF Assistant Secretary challenge coin and a certificate of appreciation from me. Capt. McDonnell has been a strong partner in every sense of the word. He provides oversight of our operations while working hard with his team to understand our constraints and challenges. I’m especially appreciative of his inspectors in helping to return our vessels to service as quickly as safely as possible. Also for leading a complete overhaul of the Area Maritime Security Committee. We’ll miss Capt. McDonnell and look forward to working with his successor.

From left, Capt. Mark McDonnell, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, and Assistant Secretary John Vezina

Recap of online open house on Southworth terminal plans

Thank you to the more than 2,500 people who visited our recent online open house on plans to upgrade our Southworth terminal.  We shared four options for replacing the aging terminal building. These range from updating the existing structure to constructing a new building, either in the same spot or closer to the parking area. We also gathered feedback from more than 200 participants who completed the survey. We will share highlights of what we heard on the project website. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to explore the site and share their input.

National Work Zone Awareness Week

All month long, our agency is focused on work zone safety. This campaign culminates with National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 20-24. This nationwide campaign reminds drivers to slow down, stay alert and protect the people working on and near our roadways. That includes our ferries and terminals. Many of our employees work in areas with active traffic, just like a work zone. Please slow down, stay alert, be kind and be patient when traveling through our facilities.

A crew member directs vehicles safely onto the ferry. This is just one of the many areas you’ll find our employees working in active traffic every day.

Visit Seattle survey

As we work to better serve Washingtonians, we encourage you to take part in Visit Seattle’s Resident Sentiment Survey. This survey gives people in Seattle and King County a chance to share how they feel about tourism and where they live. Your feedback helps us find the right balance between supporting visitors and protecting quality of life for residents. The survey is open until April 30. You can also view the 2023 results to see what people said before.

Visit Seattle plans to share the survey results this summer.

Sailing stats for week of April 6-12

For the week of April 6-12, our systemwide on-time performance (sailings that left within 10 minutes of their scheduled departure) was 84.3%. By comparison, it was 86.9% during a similar week last year (April 7-13, 2025). To view our on-time performance by month going back to 2017, visit our on-time performance reports page.

Customer kudos

“Kudos to the skipper (Capt. Robert Rothschiller) on the Kennewick for the Pt. Townsend/(Coupeville) runs Sunday! They did a great job keeping the vessel as stable as possible in very rough winds and water. Well done!”

-Port Townsend/Coupeville route customer