How our ferry system is tackling issues while building for a stronger future

 By Bryn Hunter

We hear all kinds of feedback from our ferry riders, from “I love the ferries” to frustration from folks waiting after a canceled sailing. It’s easy to focus on the day-to-day, but what’s the real story? How are our ferries really doing?

There’s good news, and we’ll call it, hard news.

The hard news is it will take some time before we’re back to how things were before the pandemic. Our first new vessels won’t arrive until 2028. Until then, we’ll keep working to trial and restore the three routes still on reduced service, but that will take time.

The good news is we’re working hard to get better and make our system stronger for the future.

WSF employees work to always be ready for emergencies, which includes practicing firefighting.

Culture change

We’re making our work culture better by building on what’s good and creating a more supportive, team-friendly environment. Everyone must feel valued as that is a key to retaining the staff we need for the future. That means all employees follow five main values: serve, grow, trust, respect and navigate. By living these values, we aim to improve customer service, build a more positive work environment, boost performance, and reach our goals while encouraging new ideas and ongoing improvement.

Workforce development

Thanks to a lot of hard work, new ideas, and money from the Legislature, our crew shortage is getting better. It will take time to fully fix, but we have pipelines in place to recruit, hire and train qualified mates and captains, our biggest crewing challenge over the past few years. Right now, we have 187 licensed deck officers, with a goal of reaching 200. This is a big win, especially with the worldwide shortage of mariners.

Now we’re focusing on building up our engine room team in the same way. We have 180 licensed engine room employees but need 200. We’re hiring more oilers and wipers to train them to become future assistant and chief engineers, and we are working on supporting additional training to help prepare those folks to be successful. These skilled workers are crucial for keeping our boats running, especially our older ones, with the help from our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility staff.

Oiler Sean Morgan performs repairs to the engine on board Chelan.

New ferries

This summer, we signed a contract with ABB to help build the propulsion systems for our first five hybrid-electric ferries. We’re also talking with other companies about constructing the other components of these boats. Again, we expect the first two to arrive in 2028. Meanwhile, the first of our three Jumbo Mark II ferries is getting its long-planned midlife propulsion upgrade and hybrid conversion.

So, the next time you ride one of our ferries, know you’re supporting our big comeback. We’re like the Seattle Mariners, working hard today to build the dream of tomorrow. Maybe give a ferry worker a high five. We’re facing challenges together and sailing as a team. Together, we’re building a better ferry system for the future while doing our best to serve Washington state today.

We’re on a roll developing the e-bike rebate program

by: Adele Peers and Hannah Weinberger

We got excited when we heard there was going to be an e-bike rebate here. Last year, the Washington State Legislature funded an E-Bike Rebate Pilot Program with $5 million in Climate Commitment Act dollars. The program will help Washington residents purchase e-bikes from local bike shops.

E-bikes come with many benefits. They can:

• make bike riding more accessible and comfortable.
• reduce household spending on vehicles.
• replace driving trips with bike rides.
• improve the health of people and the planet.

Government e-bike rebate programs are a new concept in North America. They’ve been popular where governments offer them, and have helped people make bike riding a habit.

Between our own excitement and yours (based on the questions you sent us), we began talking about our program. This was long before we had staff to start the rebates. In fact, we hadn’t even had a chance to do any research about how to design a program like this. We set some expectations that the work ahead would take some time.

A lot needs to happen behind the scenes to turn legislation into rebate vouchers. Just one example of things to work out is data security. The rebates are tied to income. That means we need to protect people’s personal and financial information when they apply for and receive rebates. We started working on this with the staff we already had, but they also were managing other new and expanded programs.

We’ve made a lot of progress since funding started in July 2023. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

• worked with the University of Washington to research and publish a Policy Brief (PDF 703KB) to guide how we structure the program.
• developed a program manager position and hired someone into it.
• created processes to more easily launch and manage this program. (And this work is ongoing also.)
• communications research. (Also ongoing.)
• coordinating with bike shop staff about questions we can answer with educational materials.
• define the qualifications required from a website contractor. (More on this below.)

At this point we’re like a paddling duck. There’s not much movement on top of the water but we’re working hard below the surface.

Our focus this summer was writing a legal document guiding how we work with contractors. It lets them know we need a partner to build and manage a website that will process the rebates. The document outlines qualifications a company needs to work with us, and what we expect them to produce. This is not something just any company can do. The website and rebate technology need to handle lots of people using them at once. They need to protect people’s information while they’re applying for and receiving vouchers. Bike shops need to be able to accept vouchers and receive rebate payments. We recently held an informational session to share this information with potential contractors. We expect to choose a partner this November.

While all that was going on, we’ve also been talking with other e-bike rebate programs. There are teams managing city and state rebate programs elsewhere that have run into problems after launching too quickly. In some cases, they’ve had to slow down or even stop the rebates after they started them. Some of them have had trouble with websites. We’re learning from them to avoid or minimize the effects of similar issues.

We will have a better idea of when our launch date might be when we have a partner. We can then provide a launch schedule. We’re confident we’ll have plenty to report in our next legislative update due July 2025.

A question we’ve been asked several times: The rebates will be offered when someone buys an e-bike and will not be available retroactively.

Many people tell us they won’t purchase an e-bike until rebates are available. This might not help them with their e-bike purchases. We won’t be able to provide rebates to everyone interested. We expect to give out about 8,500 vouchers. Most of those will go to low-income households. Rebates will range from $300 to $1,200; people need to meet low-income requirements to get the $1,200 rebate. The legislature limits households to one voucher each. There are about 3 million households in the state.

We expect to see a lot more e-bike riders in the next few years. Aside from creating the rebate program, we’re also making materials to help people prepare to use and ride e-bikes. There is some info out there already, but there are gaps that we would like to cover. We want everyone to be as safe and comfortable as possible. These will answer questions we frequently get from residents and bike shops. Please let us know if you need specific resources to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about riding and maintaining an e-bike in Washington state!

The best way to learn about our progress with this program is by signing up for our Walk & Roll newsletter. We appreciate your patience and can’t wait to show you what a pilot program like this can do for you and your neighbors!

Airplane crash near Stevenson results in one rescue and one fatality following afternoon search

OLYMPIA – One person was rescued and one person was found deceased after an airplane crashed in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest this evening. Washington State Department of Transportation Air Search and Rescue was notified 3:05 p.m. Friday that an aircraft did not arrive in Hood River, Oregon after breaking away from a three-plane flying formation. The pilots of the other two aircraft in the flying formation reported the missing plane overdue about one and a half hours after landing.

The crashed 1943 Stearman Kaydet aircraft was enroute to a local fly-in event this weekend in Hood River. It departed from the Enumclaw area and stopped at the South Lewis County airport before continuing toward the Columbia River Gorge just before noon.

A photo of the 1943 Stearman Kaydet aircraft. The plane and two occupants were discovered in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Friday, Sept. 6.

A local Hood River air crew tried to locate the missing plane or detect a distress radio beacon.

Cell phone and radar forensics determined that the plane’s flight path ended about 12 miles northwest of Stevenson at 12:59 p.m. Friday. A rescue helicopter and crew from the United States Coast Guard out of Astoria and ground search and rescue teams from Skamania County worked together to locate the crash site. The aircraft and occupants were discovered at 6:20 p.m. in the high trees of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. 

One survivor was transported to the Portland International Airport, where first responder personnel were on standby. Another person was found deceased inside the wreckage of the plane.

Currently, the identities of the survivor and deceased occupant have not been verified. While the location of the crash site was found with commendable speed, this was a heartbreaking discovery as well.

WSDOT is thankful for those who provided their time or expertise during the search mission. Agencies that assisted in the search include Skamania County Search and Rescue, U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, United States Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, National Civil Air Patrol Radar and Cell Phone Forensics Teams, Washington Air Search and Rescue and WSDOT personnel.

WSDOT, by statute (RCW 47.68.380) is charged with the coordination and management of aerial search and rescue within the state.

This concludes WSDOT’s involvement in the mission. Further information will be released by the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office. The contact there is Sergeant Ryan Taylor at 509-427-9490. Media questions about any investigation of cause can be directed to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Navigating staffing challenges: The realities behind WSF’s San Juans’ interisland service

by John Vezina

We know how much our ferry service means to island communities. But the geography of the San Juans can make it hard to staff our interisland boat reliably. This overview explains our commitment and the challenges we face.

Crewing the San Juans’ interisland ferry

Each sailing season starts with fully crewed boats with vacation reliefs filled when requested. But if someone calls in sick, has childcare issues or gets a flat tire, we can’t sail until we fill their spot. This year, the Legislature gave us money to add an extra ordinary sailor (deck) and oiler (engine room) to each sailing. Unfortunately, we don’t have backups for other crew positions, so if we don’t meet Coast Guard requirements, we can’t sail until we find someone. This is especially tough on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands and interisland routes because most of our employees live far away.

Our interisland ferry is based in Friday Harbor, which most crew members can’t reach by road. This makes it very hard to find relief employees.

For staff who don’t live near Anacortes, commuting to Friday Harbor adds at least five hours to their day. This makes it less attractive for them to fill relief requests on the interisland vessel. Instead, they prefer working overtime on routes closer to home.

New initiatives to support crew

Since our interisland route is a priority and one of the first to be restored, we’ve looked for ways to address these challenges. We’ve hired a charter boat to help crew members travel between Anacortes and Friday Harbor. We’ve also added wage incentives for those who work on the interisland ferry. However, work agreements don’t allow us to schedule overtime. Our on-call pool, which some see as a hiring barrier, is needed to cover staffing for all routes.

We’ve also thought about moving the interisland boat to Anacortes, to make it easier for employees to report for shifts. But this would mean the boat would have to stop in Anacortes at least four times a day for crew changes, reducing interisland service. It would also affect jobs for crew members who live in the San Juan Islands, who are our most reliable staff for this route. The high cost of living and limited housing on the islands make it hard for new crew members to move there. We will work with San Juan County officials to explore housing options for our employees.

USCG regulations limit how many hours a crew member can work in one day. If the interisland vessel falls too far behind schedule, we may have to cancel evening sailings to keep crew from working too many hours. If they work too long, they can’t work the next day. Delays can be caused by weather, medical emergencies or even small issues like someone locking their keys in their car.

Starting in winter 2025, we’re changing our sailing schedules to make service more reliable. These updates will help with crew changes and make crossing and docking times more realistic.

Sharing information with customers

We’re also improving how we communicate with our customers. If you sign up for our rider alerts, we’ll let you know if there’s a crew shortage on the interisland ferry. We send alerts three times a day if there are open relief requests so you can plan ahead. This is especially important for county workers and students commuting to school in Friday Harbor, so they can get home if the last trip of the day is canceled.

We’ve also made alternate schedules for when the interisland vessel is out of service. The three boats that serve Anacortes make extra stops to help interisland customers reach their destinations.

Our interisland route staffing challenges are clear in recent service data. From Aug. 1 to Sept. 2, we canceled 33 out of 1,814 sailings (1.8%) for the three ferries connecting the islands with Anacortes. During the same period, we canceled 120 out of 822 interisland sailings (14.6%).

We expect things to get better as we hire new employees and train existing crew members into higher positions. With a larger workforce and the changes above, more reliable service will come to our interisland route. We know how important it is to avoid interisland cancellations, and we are working hard to make service more reliable.