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Home My WebLink About053023 FW_ WSF Memorial Day Weekend Service ________________________________ From: Vezina, John Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 10:53:40 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) Subject: WSF Memorial Day Weekend Service ________________________________ ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. ________________________________ City and County Elected Officials from WSF-served Communities, Good morning. The long holiday weekend saw service disruptions on three routes, with significant delays on one, as well as predictable long lines across the system. As WSF works hard on increasing crewing and vessel availability with new resources from Governor Inslee and the legislature, that will take time, as explained in last year’s Service Restoration Plan <https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/def ault/files/2022-03/WSF-COVID19-ServiceRestorationPlan.pdf> , February’s Plan update <https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/WSF-ServiceRestorationPlan-2023.pdf> , and our monthly progress report <https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-05/WSF-ServiceRestorationPlanProgressReport-9May2023.pdf> . It’s important to note that even on restored routes, those constraints mean a 95% service standard, down from our normal 99%, as waiting to restore service to the higher standard would take years. We are funded and crewed for every scheduled sailing every day, and work hard to meet 100% reliability, but that simply isn’t possible when last minute relief requests are made and/or a vessel unexpectedly has to be removed from service. This weekend saw a combination of both: * The Anacortes/San Juan Islands and SJI Interisland routes had multiple weekend issues: * On Saturday morning, both the Anacortes/San Juan Islands’ assigned Chelan and the Interisland Tillikum were tied up due to a lack of available crewing. The Chelan returned to service in late morning, but Dispatch was unable to fill the relief request for the Tillikum, so the Interisland didn’t sail on Saturday. * On Sunday morning, the 57-year-old Yakima had to be removed from service due to a substantial mechanical issue. It’s likely the vessel will be out of service for at least a couple of months. WSF staff immediately began working on moving a boat north, a six-eight hour trip, which means assembling a crew on an already tight holiday weekend. They were able to do so, but not with enough crew to put the boat in service when it arrived Sunday night. With two instead of three boats in service between the San Juan Islands and Anacortes, on a busy weekend with reservations already full, it simply wasn’t possible to get everyone off-island and back to the mainland that evening. We’re appreciative of the crews on the two boats in service working far past their scheduled hours, getting as many people to their destinations as possible, but we understand the frustration of the passengers in the 99 vehicles at Friday Harbor who couldn’t travel until yesterday. With reasonable U.S. Coast Guard limits on crew hours to ensure passenger safety, keeping crews working too long means they aren’t available to work the next day, compounding the problem. * The Interisland Tillikum tied up early yesterday evening and remains out of service today due to a lack of available crewing. It’s sometimes challenging, with relief request options from around the system, to find someone willing to travel to Anacortes, ride for an hour to Friday Harbor, work a full shift, and then do the reverse travel home. We’re working on ways to support and encourage colleagues in accepting those shifts, but it isn’t always possible. * Yesterday morning the 43-year-old Kitsap, currently assigned to the Clinton/Mukilteo route, experienced a propulsion system issue necessitating it being taken out of service for repairs. This meant the route was on one-boat service for the morning of a busy holiday travel day, but was returned to service just before 1.30pm. * The Seattle/Bremerton route, sixth on the service restoration list, has been on one-boat service since early September 2021. To increase vehicle capacity while on reduced service, we have moved a larger vessel, the Walla Walla, to the route. Last week the 188-vehicle Walla Walla was removed from service due to a fuel line issue, replaced by the 144-vehicle Chimacum. The work on the Walla Walla was completed by the end of the week and we had planned to return it to the Bremerton route, but due to the aforementioned crewing availability challenges, crewing a boat move would have meant impacting service on other routes. We therefore made the difficult decision to leave the Chimacum on the Bremerton route for the weekend, assigning the Walla Walla to Seattle/Bainbridge, which didn’t necessitate a boat move, as it was already next door at our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility. There was also a miscommunication on the route that due to crewing the Chimacum had to sail with reduced capacity. That issue was quickly corrected and it was able to sail at full capacity for the weekend. We fully understand the impacts issues like these have on our customers. We know we’re part of the state highway system and passengers rely on us for essential travel. We are all working hard, every day, to provide reliable service and appreciate the public’s patience in understanding our current crewing and vessel constraints. With the service restoration plans and updates and daily messaging through passenger alerts and social media, we’re doing our best to provide customers with current and helpful information. In a dynamic marine environment that isn’t always as seamless as we’d like, but we are trying. Please let me know if you have questions. John John B. Vezina Director Planning, Customer and Government Relations Cell: 206.473.9945 on.wa.us> Subject: FW: WSF Memorial Day Weekend Service Thread-Topic: WSF Memorial Day Weekend Service Thread-Index: AQHZkx9iAG21Zn+hsku0nxwQt6PWEq9zGRUg////0Zs= References: <CO6PR09MB85673782841F735E8C7E61AA8C4B9@CO6PR09MB8567.namprd09.prod.outlook.com> <PH0PR09MB863578EBB0AB94E3E5F114EDFB4B9@PH0PR09MB8635.namprd09.prod.outlook.com> <CO6PR09MB8567454E290BC666ADBBDF098C4B9@CO6PR09MB8567.namprd09.prod.outlook.com> <CO6PR09MB856771146F55B9DF9B570A218C4B9@CO6PR09MB8567.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>,<CO6PR09MB85673F88C6FAF4680E0889988C4B9@CO6PR09MB8567.namprd09.prod.outlook.com> In-Reply-To: <CO6PR09MB85673F88C6FAF4680E0889988C4B9@CO6PR09MB8567.namprd09.prod.outlook.com> X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-Exchange-Inbox-Rules-Loop: gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: 3265d49e-d75b-40e0-8af2-bf60c0fa4ab3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Date: Tue, 30 May 2023 10:53:00 -0700 X-MS-Exchange-Transport-FromEntityHeader: Hosted X-MS-Exchange-Organization-MessageDirectionality: Originating X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AuthSource: mail2013mbx1.internal.county.domain X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AuthAs: Internal X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AuthMechanism: 03 Message-ID: <95a1f8a77eab473aa672bb6e7e1cb26d@mail2013mbx1.internal.county.domain> X-MS-Exchange-Organization-Network-Message-Id: a46e6543-2608-4501-5707-08db6136b544 X-MS-Exchange-Parent-Message-Id: <CO6PR09MB85673F88C6FAF4680E0889988C4B9@CO6PR09MB8567.namprd09.prod.outlook.com> Auto-Submitted: auto-generated X-MS-Exchange-Generated-Message-Source: Mailbox Rules Agent Return-Path: GBrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us