I’m a lifelong ferry fan.
From the time I used to be slightly child working across the decks of a Washington State Ferry on my household’s annual summer time journey to the Olympic Peninsula, proper as much as a current jaunt throughout to Kingston, taking a trip on a type of large boats has at all times been a pleasure. Puget Sound is the splendorous heart of our water-blessed area, and our ferries supply even individuals of modest means the prospect to cruise by all that magnificence.
Sadly, although, years of underfunding, delayed upkeep and defective planning have left the ferry system with a critical scarcity of skilled crew members and never sufficient functioning boats. In consequence, ferry service has change into infuriatingly unreliable for many individuals who rely on ferries to get to work, to get again residence, to get to medical care or to easily get wherever they should go. In 2023, from July to October alone, 1,000 sailings had been canceled, both as a result of boats had been out of service or full crews had been missing.
There may be not a lot use in belatedly pointing an accusing finger on the well-intentioned of us who’ve run the system because it has slipped into disaster. They didn’t imply to screw issues up this badly, I’m certain. However right here we’re. So, it’s price asking if there’s a higher method to handle the ferry fleet sooner or later.
In a recent Times opinion piece, former Ferry Advisory Committee chairs Dave Hoogerwerf, Walt Elliott and Ralph Younger advised that we glance north to British Columbia to discover a ferry system mannequin that’s working nicely. Up throughout the border, they’ve managed to take a lot of the politics out of ferry administration and have stored the ferries working dependably on time.
“In 2023, (Washington State Ferries) had 1,560 annual crew cancellations whereas scheduling solely 70% of its common service,” the authors wrote. “Against this, BC Ferries had 73 crew cancellations whereas scheduling 100% of its common service.”
That is fairly a distinction. Perhaps it helps that the provincial capital is on an island. Lawmakers from each nook of British Columbia can solely get to their jobs by taking a ferry, if they don’t have the choice to fly.
Maybe Washingtonians ought to transfer legislative classes from Olympia to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. That relocation would possibly lastly persuade our state lawmakers that the ferries are an important a part of our transportation system that ought to by no means be uncared for once more.
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