Date:
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Contact:
Lloyd Brown, Communications Director, 360-705-7076 / cell 360-789-9232
OLYMPIA - Washington State Department of Transportation officials today announced that a series of adjustments to the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route are being made in response to customer feedback received since a new two-boat schedule began Monday.
Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Ferries Division Steve Reinmuth rode the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route (also referred to as the "triangle" route) this morning to talk with passengers.
"We came to apologize and recognize that our short public notice left people struggling with their schedules," said Secretary Hammond. "I want our customers to know that we were listening and taking notes this morning. Hopefully these adjustments will help during this temporary service reduction."
WSF normally operates three vessels Monday-Friday on the triangle route, but for the next few weeks the route is running a two boat schedule while the Chelan, a 124-car vessel that has been operating on the triangle route, is in dry dock for a required U.S. Coast Guard inspection. WSF reassigned the 124-car vessel Kitsap from the Seattle/Bremerton route to the Triangle Route to help offset the impacts of two boat service. The 87-car Tillikum is operating on the Seattle/Bremerton route, reducing the capacity of that route and impacting both morning and evening commutes.
"While there were many good suggestions from ferry riders we tried to balance adjustments during this temporary service disruption to address the concerns of all three communities - Southworth, Vashon and Fauntleroy," said Hammond.
WSF officials yesterday, Jan. 15, worked out a maintenance schedule with the U.S. Coast Guard that will minimize service disruptions through the spring and summer and that still meets Coast Guard requirements.
"Ensuring our vessels are safe to operate is our top priority," said Secretary Hammond. "Now that we have a plan, we will be providing much more notice to ferry passengers in advance of any planned service disruptions."
Effective Friday, Jan.18 adjustments will be made to the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route. The temporary service reduction and the following schedule changes will be in place for approximately 3-4 weeks:
- The overall number of sailings remains the same. But changes to the schedule are as follows:
- The current 5:55 p.m. departure out of Fauntleroy to Vashon will now go to both Vashon and Southworth;
- The current 6:50 p.m. departure out of Fauntleroy that goes to Vashon and Southworth will now depart Fauntleroy at 7:25 p.m. and go to Vashon only; and
- The passenger-only ferry service between Vashon and Seattle will be adjusted 5-10 minutes. For example, the current 4:45 p.m. departure from Seattle will now depart at 4:40 p.m., so Southworth customers on the passenger-only ferry can catch the 5:20 p.m. sailing from Vashon to Southworth.
The above mentioned changes will narrow the gap that currently exists between the 4:40 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. departures from Fauntleroy to Southworth. It is important to maintain the 4:40 p.m. sailing out of Fauntleroy since this departure carries the largest contingent of vanpools to Southworth.
- Southworth passengers asked WSF to delay the 8:15 a.m. passenger-only departure from Vashon in order to allow Southworth passengers to board the passenger-only sailing. While we can't delay the ferry because of the negative impacts to commuters who start work at 9:00 a.m., we have the following options for Southworth passengers:
- Take the 6:40 a.m. departure out of Southworth to Vashon and connect with the 7:00 a.m. passenger-only sailing
- Take the 8:20 a.m. auto ferry departure out of Southworth to Fauntleroy and connect with Metro
- Take alternate route, i.e. 7:20 a.m. from Bremerton
- We have worked to balance the ratio of vehicles loaded at Fauntleroy and Vashon terminals during this two-boat schedule.
New schedules will be made available at the terminals and aboard the vessels starting Thursday, January 17. WSF staff will be on-hand to assist customers Thursday and Friday aboard the vessels and at the terminal over the weekend. Email alerts will be sent to route subscribers. For more information visit http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ or call 1-888-808-7977.
Customers impacted by the service changes may contact WSF Customer Service Manager Susan Harris Huether at 206-515-3460 to inquire about refunds.
WSF is closely coordinating with King County Metro and Kitsap Transit to make connections for our customers. If you have any specific transit questions, we advise you to contact Metro (206-553-3000) and Kitsap (360-337-2877) directly.
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