||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||
A message from Steve
When I became assistant secretary at Washington State Ferries, I laid out three strategic priorities that would guide our work: Service Excellence, Improved Communication and Empowered People. These goals aren’t just ideas – they are the foundation for strengthening our ferry system.
While we know we’re not yet where we need to be with service reliability, these priorities and our new organizational structure have us on the right path to improvement.
Service Excellence is at the heart of everything we do. It means providing reliable, timely and safe ferry service, even as we face challenges. This priority drives our daily operations, with an emphasis on reducing delays and disruptions, keeping our vessels in top condition, and training our staff to handle any situation. We know we’re not there yet, but by focusing on excellence, we aim to make every ferry ride more consistent and enjoyable, moving toward the service you deserve.
Improved Communication is crucial because it builds trust and transparency, especially when things don’t go as planned. We know you need timely, accurate information, whether you’re commuting or planning a trip. We’re committed to better communication, both with you and within our organization, to keep everyone informed. It’s not just about sharing information – it’s about creating an open conversation where your feedback helps us improve and where we clearly explain our efforts to get back on track.
Empowered People is the third pillar of our strategy, focusing on our greatest asset – our team. By giving our employees the tools, training and support they need, we help them excel in their roles, especially during challenging situations. When our people are empowered, they can make informed decisions, solve problems faster and give you the best service possible. There’s still work to do, but focusing on empowerment directly benefits our customers by making our workforce more responsive and ready to tackle challenges and build a better future.
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Sale of retired ferries Elwha, Klahowya terminated
We have canceled purchase and sales agreements with Nelson Armas for decommissioned ferries Elwha and Klahowya. This comes after issues arose while Armas tried to move the vessels to Ecuador, but tow equipment failed, and the boats were returned to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility. After learning about poor treatment of Armas’ tow crew, we canceled the contract. Multiple new buyers have already shown interest. The sale of a third retired ferry, Hyak, which is docked at our Kingston terminal, is also in progress.
We are selling Klahowya, as well as Elwha and Hyak, to free up dock space for planned and unplanned maintenance on our current fleet. Their departure would also save costs as any time they need to be moved, it requires a tugboat and a tow captain, which also takes away a crew member from service.
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Labor Day weekend ridership numbers
Our Labor Day weekend ridership numbers are in, and we safely carried more than 360,000 people Thursday, Aug. 29, through Monday, Sept. 2. This is up from the roughly 330,000 riders we had during the same five-day period in 2023. I want to express my sincere gratitude to our vessel crews, terminal staff, dispatchers, maintenance teams, and everyone in our operations center and customer service for their hard work in keeping our service safe and smooth over the holiday weekend.
As expected, our busiest day was Saturday, Sept. 2, with 85,668 riders, making it our fifth busiest day of 2024 behind July 20 with 91,055, Aug. 10 with 87,822, Aug. 3 with 86,503 and July 27 with 86,178.
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2 vessels on Port Townsend/Coupeville route for Wooden Boat Festival
With large crowds expected for the Wooden Boat Festival, we plan to operate a second boat on our Port Townsend/Coupeville route this weekend. Vehicle reservations are available for the added sailings, which are scheduled for 10:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 and 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8. Although both boats are crewed for the weekend, we’ll send out rider alerts if last-minute relief requests lead to service disruptions.
Salish is moving up from our Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route to allow for this increased service. Our “Triangle” run is expected to be without its unscheduled third boat today through Monday, Sept. 9.
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Seeking concessions vendors for Colman Dock
We’re looking for food, beverage and retail vendors for our new Seattle terminal facility. We recently issued a request for proposals for concession services to fill up to six indoor and outdoor spots at Colman Dock. We plan to announce our selected vendors in December with the new tenants beginning construction early next year.
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Fauntleroy terminal project advisory group meetings
Our Fauntleroy terminal replacement project team met with its community and technical advisory groups last week. They discussed the results of our Good To Go! and Wave 2Go advance ticketing study, which looked at whether these systems could work at our Fauntleroy terminal. The study’s findings focused on ways to improve efficiency. The project team and advisory groups also discussed policy changes needed to support Good To Go!. Based on the study, we recommend moving forward with two Good To Go! and/or advance ticketing options for further review. The meeting also included an update on intersection improvements for the entrance to our Fauntleroy terminal. Upcoming advisory group meetings will cover construction and cost estimates. You can find recordings of these recent meetings and register to attend future meetings in the community engagement section of the project website.
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Sailing stats for week of Aug. 26-Sept. 1
For the week of Aug. 26-Sept. 1, we completed 97.7% of our 2,829 scheduled sailings. We replaced two of our 68 cancellations, of which 33 were due to crewing, 21 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 a vessel was out of service and one due to an emergency.
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Customer kudos
“A Kingston ticket booth attendant made sure my husband got on the ferry he needed to make a medical appointment. That was above and beyond good service in our opinion. Plus the ticket booth attendants have always been good humored. Another time the ticket booth attendant at Port Townsend had us in stitches.”
-Edmonds/Kingston and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes customer
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