Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson, who touted ferries as a significant issue in his election campaign, visited Orcas Island to share news and hear feedback about the San Juans’ waterway transportation route.

“The purpose of the meeting is to hear from you,” Ferguson said on July 14 to a packed room at Orcas Center. “The ferry system is central and critical for island communities.”

He was joined by his senior policy advisor Megan Cotton, Washington State Ferries Deputy Secretary Steve Nevey, WSF Deputy Assistant Secretary John Vezina, WSDOT Transportation Secretary Julie Meredith, Rep. Debra Lekanoff and San Juan County council members Jane Fuller, Kari McVeigh and Justin Paulsen.

Vezina shared that the Wenatchee, one of WSF’s largest vessels, completed its hybrid-electric conversion and is back in service on the Seattle/Bainbridge route. Eastern Shipbuilding Group has been selected to build three new 160-vehicle hybrid-electric ferries. They will be assigned to the Clinton/Mukilteo and Seattle/Bremerton routes, and WSF will send the Olympic Class vessels to the Anacortes/San Juan Islands routes. The first of the three new vessels is expected to be completed by 2029-30.

Coming out of the pandemic, Vezina explained that the ferries were understaffed, which contributed to the cancellation of sailings. WSF now pays more to the inter-island crew as an incentive, and Ferguson has included additional staffing funds in the upcoming budget, so ferries in the San Juans will run at full capacity year-round, rather than implementing the reduced winter schedule.

“There’s a narrative that we are folks in Seattle who don’t care. But we prioritize every route. We all really care,” Vezina said. ‘This year has gone from 95% reliability to 98% reliability. We’re proud of that.”

This past July 3 was the busiest ferry traffic since 2019, and the parking lots in Anacortes were full.

“Pre-pandemic, we had five boats during the summer. Now we have four. There is a priority to add that boat back in and to get the Sydney ferry running again,” Vezina said.

Most of the meeting was spent fielding questions from the audience, which included concerns about the online reservation system crashing, the need for more public transportation to incentivize walk-ons, procuring funding for the water taxi pilot program, accommodating walk-on passengers for the Sydney boat and a tradesperson-only boat operating in the early morning.

Vezina explained that the reservation system is now operated through the cloud, rather than a server, which has significantly increased the site’s reliability. His staff is currently working on an entirely new reservation website. WSF recently conducted a walk-on passenger survey, which revealed a high interest in traveling without a vehicle. The county’s marine transport project has also analyzed the local need.

WSF leadership emphasized its commitment to delivering the most reliable service possible to San Juan County, particularly in helping islanders access medical appointments, a topic that was frequently brought up during the meeting.

“You all deserve that reliability. We’re doing our best with the resources we have. It will get better,” Vezina said.

Some in attendance also inquired about WSF’s position on ICE agents using the ferries to detain residents. In 2009, eight islanders were taken into custody after border patrol agents began questioning ferry riders arriving from the San Juans about their citizenship during “spot checks” at the Anacortes ferry terminal. The officials in attendance were unaware of those incidents that had occurred in San Juan County more than 15 years ago. Ferguson called what is coming out of Washington, D.C., “deeply disturbing” and asked that if anyone sees or hears of ICE using the ferries for immigration business, to let WSF know immediately.

In closing, Ferguson said he and his staff will have conversations based on the ferry meeting as well as the various roundtables (on such topics as tourism) held before and after. Ferguson and WSF leadership also met the M/V Chelan crew after the Orcas gathering.

He reiterated that he and his team are deeply committed to the state ferry system, stating that his “north star” is having vessels in the water. Of the fleet’s 21 boats, 18 are currently in service.

“We have a sense of progress being made, and we’re acutely aware we have a long way to go,” Ferguson said. “Government, in my view, is to serve the people. That is its function.”