The Ferry Advisory Committee and Washington State Ferries have agreed upon a summer schedule.

FAC member Ed Sutton is pleased with the sailings, but says there will be some controversy.

“Our primary objective was to correct the morning sailing problems from last year’s summer schedule,” Sutton said. “We’ve got the morning working efficiently, so that is solved.”

The hiccup lies with Orcas commuters returning from Friday Harbor in the early evening. The first inter-island sailing of the day comes from Friday Harbor, stops at Lopez, Shaw, Orcas, and then back to Friday Harbor. Because this creates an extra long sailing for Lopez commuters, on the way back, at 5:40 p.m., the sailing goes directly to Lopez, then Shaw, and then Orcas, getting in at 6:45 p.m. before heading back to Friday Harbor.

“It’s not possible to construct schedules like we did in the past because of the new Coast Guard regulations (that limit crew hours),” Sutton said. “We’re trying to do these schedules comprehensively as a county.”

FAC member Howie Rosenfeld says they tried to make the schedule as reasonable as possible.

“If you take just the number of inter-island commuters, it’s about equal,” he said. “For some to have the short run in the morning and some to have the short run in the evening, it seems fair … We’re looking down the barrel of service cuts, so this could be the last of the better schedules … If legislature passes some of these transportation bills, we are looking at service cuts.”

The ferry system is also facing its usual 2.5 increase in fares in addition to a fuel surcharge and Gov. Gregoire’s recommendation of a 10 percent increase over the next two years.

“I think the 10 percent fare increase is less likely, but the fuel surcharge is something they are likely to going to have to do,” Rosenfeld said. “But when you increase fares, you’re affecting the elasticity of ridership. If you increase the fares too much, then revenue goes down. So you are faced with more shortcomings. It’s a delicate issue. We’ve already lost a lot of ridership in the last 10 years with fares almost doubling.”

On Wednesday, the Senate passed House Bill 1175, the state’s two-year transportation budget. Until that afternoon, the proposed plan included over $4 million in cuts to ferry services. Thanks to actions led by Senators Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, and Curtis King, R-Yakima, service levels for Washington state ferry routes will stay intact, without reduction.

In a last minute turn of events, a floor amendment to the transportation budget amended the document to restore service funding.

“I know well the effect service reductions would have had upon our island communities,” Ranker said. “People in my district depend on reliable service to get to school and work just as much as other districts depend upon roads to do the same. This bill maintains their ability to get there. With this bill, we have begun to halt the decade long erosion of service. I’d like to offer my gratitude Senator Haugen and Senator King for their leadership on this issue.”

Nelson reinforced the importance of maintaining current levels of service.

“I’m extremely pleased we were able to avoid cuts to services in this budget,” said Nelson. “Reducing ferry runs would have been a major blow to our island and maritime communities, where reliable ferries are a daily necessity and a key economic driver.”

“Maintaining the current levels of service provides certainty to business, families and our emergency services,” Nelson added.  “Additionally, as the Washington State Ferries are the largest tourist attraction in our state and maintaining service helps our economy.”