The Washington State Ferries’ meeting on Aug. 10 at the San Juan island Yacht Club was not short of positive feedback, concerns, suggestions, anger and some despair. WSF Assistant Secretary Lynne Griffith fielded questions while being flanked by WSF Organizational and Systems Manager Brian Churchwell who answered technical questions regarding system changes.
30 Minute rule
Griffith opened up the town hall defending the 30-minute rule. She cited data, such as increase in ridership and a decrease in ferry terminal traffic to support her argument.
“By and large, mostly we have been able to accommodate all of the requests from the partnership and the Ferry Advisory Committee, in terms of priority,” said Griffith. “This is one (the 30-minute rule) that we disagree on. It doesn’t mean that we are not listening. It doesn’t mean that we don’t care about what is on your mind. But, we also need to factor what is going on in the operation for us.”
Griffith said the 30-minute rule reduces stress on terminal staff by giving them more time to do things like safely load the boat and to balance the weight of the cars. She continued by saying that this policy was put in place after listening to the concerns of ferry staff. Churchwell pointed out as well that the 30-minute rule has reduced line wait times because riders now know when they can or can’t get on a ferry.
Churchwell did point out a shortcoming of the reservation system, which is the no-show fee. He said 4 to 25 percent of ferry capacity is being left unfilled due to no shows. While no policy has been finalized to combat this issue, he pointed out that the Sydney B.C. ferry has the lowest no show rate because the no-show penalty is $40. The no-show fee for domestic ferries is $10.
Churchwell also pointed to feedback from San Juan County ferry staff’s reports that 4th of July service went much more smoothly this year than in years past.
Food Fight
Griffith then moved on to another highly contested WSF decision, the replacement of the ferry food vendor, Bremerton-based Olympic Cascade Services, with Connecticut-based Centerplate. In addition to not renewing the contract with Olympic Cascade Services, the independently and locally-owned Cheesecake Cafe will be evicted from its location within the Anacortes terminal. She said that a process of receiving and reviewing bids for service is required by law every 10 years. Griffith said, there are criteria and deadlines that must be met, and each proposal is evaluated individually.
Griffith said in a meeting on Orcas any parties involved in the process had the chance to object to the decision and Cheesecake Cafe owner Margie Aipopo did not protest. Aipopo has been battling WSF’s decision to not renew its contract since it was announced.
Opponents to the food vendor replacement have stated the new vendor will not be bringing money into the islands and that it will not employ locals. Griffith countered those fears by saying that the vendor will provide food with a very local flair and hire local staff.
Griffin pointed out that while the corporate headquarters are out of state they have solid presence in Washington operating out of Tacoma, and providing concessions at Safeco Field. However, Cheesecake Cafe representative Nicole Aipopo did not let Griffith off the hook in the Q&A after presenting Griffin with 12,000 signature supporting the Cheesecake Cafe and delivering an impassioned, emotional speech.
“I played sports here, I was involved in student government here. We’ve trained so many kids here. They had their first jobs in our terminal,” Aipopo said. “This is the plan that will replace us, a Connecticut-based corporation that will call themselves Fidalgo Grocer, and that’s embarrassing and just so sad.”
Public Transit
Rick Hughes wanted to bring up a plan for Skagit County Transit to increase bus service to the Anacortes terminal. He said the bus would go all the way to Mount Vernon, where riders could then catch a train and travel all the way to Portland by public transit. This is all dependent on Skagit Valley transit’s pending Washington State grant according to Hughes.
Q&A
Islander ferry priority was brought up in the session. Griffith said that since the ferries are funded by tax dollars from across the state of Washington it would be inappropriate to show priority to anyone and setting up such a system would be costly. Griffith said that someone in Spokane is investing just as much into the ferry system as the islanders, and it’s hard to justify not treating them equally.
One citizen complained of missing his ferry because he was sent to the upper lot and didn’t make it in line within the 30 minute window. A WSF staffer from the Friday Harbor ferry terminal said that that shouldn’t happen and if it did it was a breakdown and apologized.
A citizen asked why the sundecks aren’t opened on the ferries? Griffin said that there are not enough staff to watch over the decks to meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
Another citizen pointed out that if disabled people aren’t parked near the elevators then it is difficult to move down the narrow lanes between cars. Griffith and Churchwell said they would analyze the feedback, and try to think of solutions.
If you have a concern about WSF policies, contact:
Phone: 206-464-6400, 1-888-808-7977 (toll-free, in state)
Email: wsfinfo@wsdot.wa.gov
