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HomeMy WebLinkAbout042823 FW_ WSF Service Restoration ________________________________ From: Vezina, John Sent: Friday, April 28, 2023 9:34:29 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) Subject: WSF Service Restoration ________________________________ ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. ________________________________ County and City Elected Officials in WSF-Served Communities, Good morning. As you know, last March, WSF published a Service Restoration Plan <https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/WSF-COVID19-ServiceRestorationPlan.pdf> , giving the public a detailed explanation of crewing and vessel availability constraints limiting our ability to quickly return to pre-pandemic schedules. In February of this year, with four of our with eight routes restored to 95% reliability, we updated the service restoration timeline <https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/WSF-ServiceRestorationPlan-2023.pdf> , based on crewing and vessel availability estimates at that time. Additionally, since last year, we have posted regular Service Restoration Progress Reports <https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/WSF-ServiceR estorationPlanProgressReport-25April2023.pdf> , allowing customers to follow our ability to restore service. Over the last couple of weeks there have been service disruptions on several routes, leading to understandable customer frustration. It’s important to underscore we have been very straightforward on continuing crewing challenges and route restoration based on 95%, not our pre-pandemic 99%, metric. If we had waited until we could reliably restore service to 99% reliability, it would likely have taken years as we worked on the recruitment, hiring, and training necessary to fully increase our Engine Room and Deck crewing capacities. We understand any cancelled sailing is at least an inconvenience, and sometimes much more, and our Dispatch team works tirelessly to fill relief requests, but when that isn’t possible, to ensure passenger safety, boats must be tied up. That is always a last resort, but sometimes a necessary one. In anticipation of trialing restoration on the next scheduled route, the Fauntleroy/Southworth/Vashon “Triangle,” for the last month we added sailings to fill midday and evening service gaps. Unfortunately, that increased stress on the system as we tried to crew those sailings as well as fill other relief requests. It has shown we don’t currently have the capacity to trial Triangle restoration, so we’ll pull back on the added Triangle sailings, adding them only when we have the crewing to do so, focusing on reliably sailing our current schedules. Thanks to Governor Inslee and the legislature, we now have the funding to recruit new employees and train current colleagues for the credentialing they need to fill the senior Engine Room and Deck positions which are our most critical current need. While this won’t occur as quickly as any of us – particularly our customers – would like, it will happen. With consistent new hiring and continual trainings for senior roles, we will resume trialing – the Triangle, then Seattle/Bremerton – when we have the crewing to reliably do so. 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