The San Juan County Council has established an interim system for emergency interisland passenger-only water taxi service. By contracting with an Orcas Island business, Outer Island Excursions, temporary interisland emergency water taxi service is now available through April 15 in the event the WSF interisland vessel is out of service.
When will services be provided?
• Outer Island Excursions will monitor the interisland ferry schedule for cancellations. If a ferry is out of service, within two hours, the company will provide emergency interisland passenger-only water taxi service between the WSF-served islands.
• This interim emergency service will be provided through April 15. At that time, the County expects to roll out a more complete suite of marine transportation options as part of its pilot program to host such services due to ongoing WSF service disruptions.
How do I sign up?
• Schedule: https://www.outerislandx.com/emergency-water-taxi.
• Sign up for seats: https://outerislandx.rezgo.com/details/388236/emergency-inter-island-water-taxi-service.
• Call with Questions: 360-376-3711.
Where are the pickup and drop-off locations for the emergency interisland passenger-only water taxi service?
• Pickup and drop-off locations for the emergency interisland passenger-only water taxi service are located on each of the WSF-served islands. These locations can be found on the Outer Island Excursions website referenced above. Please note that riders are responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from the designated pickup and drop-off locations. There are no public land-based transportation services available on any of the islands.
Is there a passenger fee?
• This service is offered at no charge for passengers. Outer Island Excursions will be reimbursed by the county using emergency funding awarded by the Governor’s Office in late 2024.
How often will the boats be running?
• In the event of a service disruption to the WSF interisland ferry, Outer Island Excursions will create and broadly publish a schedule for the emergency interisland passenger-only water taxi service at designated landing sites. Service will begin within two hours after WSF informs the public of the disruption.
• During service disruptions, Outer Island Excursions will make at a minimum two round trips per day between the ferry-served islands. However, if a service disruption begins after 1 p.m., the boats will make a minimum of one round trip per day.
What is the route?
• The emergency passenger-only interisland water taxi operates in a “boomerang,” starting and ending at the Orcas Island Ferry Terminal. It has a set route, just like the ferry schedule.
• Passengers can get on and off at any location along the route. The actual schedule will be determined based on the time the WSDOT ferry disruption occurs.
How many passengers?
• Outer Island Excursions has different-sized vessels and will be ready to accommodate the number of passengers.
What about all the other emergency marine transportation services?
• In February, San Juan County released a series of Requests for Proposals asking for interested parties to provide a variety of transportation services throughout the County.
• Passenger-only ferry service from Anacortes to the WSF-served San Juan Islands.
• Emergency interisland passenger-only water taxi service between the WSF-served islands.
• Emergency barge transportation services between the ferry-served islands.
• Each of these services will be financed with the emergency funding awarded to the County by the Governor’s Office, and these services will be provided at no charge.
• In response to the County’s RFPs, 11 proposals were received and are being reviewed and evaluated.
• The County expects to award contracts to service providers by mid-April.
