HomeMy WebLinkAbout042523 WSF Summer 2023 Reservations Release________________________________
ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
________________________________
Senators Lovelett, Muzzall, and Van De Wege, Representatives Lekanoff, Ramel, Paul, Shavers, Chapman, and Tharinger, San Juan County Councilmembers and Jefferson, Island, and Skagit
County Commissioners, Mayors Jackson, Miller, Hughes, and Faber, and Friday Harbor, Anacortes, Coupeville, and Port Townsend Councilmembers,
Good afternoon.
As elected officials representing WSF vehicle reservations routes, you are likely aware of our seasonal tiered reservations releases. Today was the release of reservations for this
summer (June 18-September 23). For the Anacortes/San Juan Islands routes, 90% of vehicle spaces are reservable – 30% released at two months, 30% released two weeks, 30% released two
days before sailing dates, with 10% held for standbys and emergency vehicles. For Port Townsend/Coupeville, two months before a new seasonal schedule 80% of reservations are released,
with 20% held for standbys and emergency vehicles.
Despite the best efforts of our terrific IT team, including moving the system to the cloud in 2020 for more capacity, and upgrades this year, customers logging on for reservations this
morning faced significant delays – and resulting frustration. With 3500 customers logging in at 7am, the system couldn’t handle the sudden influx, exceeding the system’s capacity.
As the day has gone on, spreading out the number of people logging on, 28,000 new reservations have been made, with over 12,000 between 11am and 1pm. WSF Customer Service staff have
been helping customers struggling with the website, making reservations for them over the phone.
We appreciate the funding Governor Inslee proposed, and the legislature funded, to begin modernizing our ticketing and reservation systems. This will begin in the 2023-25 biennium,
with a replacement of the reservation system. WSDOT will explore moving from an in-house built reservation system to an industry-recognized system that has been proven in an operational
environment like ours. One of the challenges will be accomplishing the intent of the tiered release process for the San Juan Islands. It was created to ensure our Islands customers
could make unplanned, yet often essential, travel closer to the date of travel. This totally appropriate need is not a standard function of any industry systems. Part of the procurement
process will be evaluating the ability to meet the public demand of a reservation system while meeting the unique community needs.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
John
John B. Vezina
Director
Planning, Customer and Government Relations
Washington State Ferries <https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/washington-state-ferries>
Cell: 206.473.9945