San Juan County Seeks Proposals from Transportation Service Providers for Pilot Project

SAN JUAN COUNTY, WA. February 18, 2025 – San Juan County is seeking proposals from interested parties to provide a variety of transportation services throughout the County. Three separate Requests for Proposals (RFPs) outline services including foot passenger transportation to Anacortes, inter-island foot passenger transportation, and emergency barge transportation services.

All RFPs are available for download on the project page [see the right-hand column]. All RFP submittals are due Friday, March 14, 2025.

Project Background

In August of 2024, Council issued a request to the Governor’s Office for ‘executive relief’ from ferry service disruptions, providing a 180-day proposal. This request was granted in September when WA State Governor Jay Inslee traveled to Friday Harbor to announce an award of $1.5 million from the Department of Commerce’s Emergency Rapid Response fund, with a contract finalized in November. San Juan County’s program aims to support three main initiatives during ferry service disruptions:

Funding from the Governor’s Office will support these three pilot initiatives on an interim and emergency basis.  The pilot project is expected to commence under a schedule proposed by the service provider and agreed to by the County. At this time, the project is expected to conclude on June 30, 2025, but may be extended as funding allows.

About the RFP Process

Proposals will be evaluated based on proposed service level, experience and credentials of the organization and personnel, organization capacity, speed of project start up, and cost.

Service providers are expected to collect trip and ridership data to support long-term reporting goals for the project. Regular reports will detail number of trips completed, number of passengers served, and number of sailings cancelled, among other statistics.

Responses to this RFP will be evaluated by the County based on standard criteria. The County Council has final decisions-making authority and reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, and/or withdraw or subsequently modify or review the terms contained with the RFPs.

Relevant URLs:

Questions?

Contact: Mark Tompkins, Health & Community Services Director, 360-370-7517, markt@sanjuancountywa.gov

###