Top 10 Stories of 2014, No. 1: Table for two? Reservations & ferry travel transformed

Published 12:45 pm Monday, December 29, 2014

The boats will come and go just like before. But the business of boarding a ferry may never be the same.

After nearly five years of preparation, re-positioning, prodding and painstaking planning, in 2014 Washington State Ferries unveiled its much-debated and long-awaited reservation system for travel on sailings in the San Juans. Nearly 4,000 reservations were made for the slowest season of the year, the winter sailing schedule, Jan. 5 to March 21, in the first three weeks after the reservation booking system first went live (Dec. 2).

Intended to help the state ferry system maximize its existing resources—boats, terminals, parking and number of sailings—and to minimize investment in the same, reservations are expected not only to allow riders to secure travel plans during the busiest of seasons, but to also help reduce congestion, wait times and spread demand to what have historically been the least populated travel times.

Customized with patterns and preferences of San Juans’ travelers in mind, visitors and islanders alike, the local reservation system features a “30-30-30” time-release formula, in which only a percentage of auto-deck space of any sailing becomes available over time, beginning with change-over in schedules from one season to the next.

Reservations are available for eastbound sailings to all four ferry-served islands and on westbound sailings from San Juan and Orcas, can be made either online or by telephone. While a credit card is required to make a reservation, which enables a “no-show” fee to be applied, the reservation itself is free (fares will still be collected at the tool booth).

Whether the reservation system will prove nimble enough to withstand delays or cancellations remains to be seen. It’s not embraced by all. But it may prove an effective tool for islanders as well as tourists because the days of being able to drive up and board a boat, in the summer season in particular… well, that ship has long since sailed.