Lawmakers should backstop the fragile WA ferry system comeback

Gov. Bob Ferguson declared last month that Washington State Ferries will sail its domestic schedule again for the first time in about half a decade. It’s the right move, but it does come with risk. Years of underfunding by his predecessor and the Legislature plunged America’s largest ferry system, with a depleted workforce and decaying fleet, into crisis. Crewing shortages and boat breakdowns can and will still occur.

As lawmakers negotiate the final state transportation budget this week, they should provide some backstops for the ferry system’s return to pre-pandemic-level service in their plan. They must help make good on Ferguson’s promise not just to restore a dependable system but also to rebuild trust in the region’s ferry communities.

First, they can buttress existing state service with county-run passenger ferries. The House’s transportation budget includes a modest $5 million or so a year to continue subsidizing King and Kitsap counties to boost existing passenger-only ferries. Think of it as an insurance policy should state car ferries get canceled.    

Here’s why. WSF will soon announce details of the restored summer schedule Ferguson has called for. Fully 18 of 21 boats will be required to sail when the system — with little room for error — adds service back to the Port Townsend-Coupeville, Seattle-Bremerton and Vashon Island “triangle” route. So far, Ferries leaders have said that the first run may only get a second vessel four days a week and the triangle, between Vashon, West Seattle and Southworth, may only operate three-boat service when enough vessels of a certain class are available.

An aging fleet that could suffer breakdowns and a workforce whose highest ranks, in particular, are stretched thin, may increase the likelihood of cancellations and put a fragile and nascent comeback into jeopardy.

Second, lawmakers could write into the budget ways to give other local ferry-dependent communities outside King and Kitsap the ability to stand up their own taxing districts. This was the goal of HB 1923, sponsored by Rep. Greg Nance, D-Bainbridge Island. The House approved the bill but it died in the Senate Transportation Committee. The state’s ferry system does not expect any new car ferries to be delivered before 2029, so the boat shortage will remain a problem. Allowing ports, cities and other entities to start their own alternative ferry service takes pressure off the state system as it rebuilds.

Finally, an effort in the Senate’s transportation budget would suspend the system’s 11 Ferry Advisory Committees, unpaid, county-appointed groups that provide direct input to WSF from the communities it serves. A legislative study found the FAC members aren’t “reflective” of the current ferry ridership in a number of ways demographically. The Senate’s budget asks the University of Washington to conduct a $75,000 study “to recommend updates to WSF customer engagement systems.”

But to stop the FACs, and the work of many volunteers, sends the message that their members’ voices are being silenced. Reforming the FACs is a worthwhile endeavor; nixing them altogether is a cynical move that undermines the trust Ferguson and others are working to rebuild.

On other measures, the ferry system is showing signs of renewed reliability. Ferguson rightly called for delaying the hybrid conversion of two of the fleet’s most dependable vessels, as recommended last year by the Times editorial board. WSF’s director, Steve Nevey, is steeringmuch-needed legislative investments toward attracting new mariners and retaining them. A cruise ship industry veteran, he is proving the value of having a maritime leader, not just another transportation department bureaucrat, in charge of a system of great economic and cultural importance to the state.

But there are still storm clouds ahead — bids from shipyards to build new hybrid-electric vessels could have hair-raising price tags when announced next month. Rebuilding the system — and the trust that ferries can again reliably serve the marine highway networks in our state — will take years. Now is no time to let off the throttle toward recovery.