HomeMy WebLinkAbout041024 email - WSF Reservations ImprovementALERT: 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, & Van De Wege, Representatives Lekanoff, Ramel, Paul, Shavers, Chapman, & Tharinger, San Juan County Councilmembers Fuller, Minney, & Wolf, Jefferson County
Commissioners Dean, Eisenhour, & Brotherton, Island County Commissioners Johnson, St. Clair, & Bacon, Mayors Jackson, Faber, & Hughes, and Friday Harbor, Port Townsend, & Coupeville
Councilmembers,
Good afternoon.
As elected representatives of WSF-served routes with vehicle reservations (San Juan Islands, Port Townsend, and Coupeville), you’re likely aware of the high demand we experience on seasonal
reservation release dates. Last year, for example, there were 3500 concurrent users trying to access the reservations website at 7am. The day ended with 11.532 customers making over
43,000 reservations. The day before the 2023 summer release by comparison had 2144 customers making 3579 reservations.
Having previously created additional capacity by moving the vehicle reservation system to the cloud, and separating current (7am) and the next season’s (10am) reservation release times,
but our website still facing significant slowdowns, next week’s summer (June 16-September 21) reservation release will feature something new.
On Tuesday, the vehicle reservation website will have a virtual waiting room to prevent website overloads and to deliver fair access. During high demand times when capacity is reached,
people will be added to the waiting room with the ability to see their place in line, an estimated wait time, and the option to receive a notification inviting them to come back to
the site when it’s their turn to make a reservation. We hope this will enhance the customer experience and reduce reasonable frustration caused by slow connections.
We’ll be sending a passenger alert about the new system later this afternoon, so if you, or your constituents, have questions, please let me know.
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