Notes from Spring 2026 WSF Community Meeting

These are notes from the Noon meeting.

For those that missed the live meetings, here are the recordings:
12 p.m. meeting
6 p.m. meeting

Of the 80 participants, 38% were users of the San Juans route

Leadership Presentations

Steve Nevey, Deputy Secretary, Washington State Ferries:

75th Anniversary June 1, 2026, including a special flag on vessels as well as some give-aways, including free coffee or small popcorn with any purchase
Workforce Development2022–2026, including increasing the “licensed” employees:
- Deck crew: 656—>817
- Engineering crew: 370—>462
- Retirement risk reduced: from 53% to 40% for captains and from 34% to 23% for engineers; target is 20%
- Crew-based cancellations are down and usually limited to one or two sailings rather than the whole day

Jenna Forty, External Relations, WSF:

Service Contingency Plan Update:
- With the limited fleet, it’s often a triage effort
- Set expectations
- 2026 Legislative session wins:
  - $500K to study whether the state should build its own drydock
  - $245K for warehouse and procurement staff
  - $2M for rapid response maintenance team
  - $19M to expand Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility
  - Add’l $1B requested by Ferguson for ferry maintenance and procurement was not provided by the legislature during the short 2026 session

Forrest Nichols, Director, Vessel Engineering & Maintenance: World Cup Service

Additional staff around the system
Limiting maintenance to one vessel at a time to keep more on the water

David Sowers, Electrification Program Administrator: Fleet Modernization Program and New Vessel Construction:

WSF’s goal is to reduce emissions by 70% by 2040 and reach zero by 2050
11 vessels will be at or near end-of-life at 2040
The global maritime industry is moving to hybrid and full electric
Standard vessel timeline:
- Procurement: 1 yr
- Detailed Design 1 yr (nearing end of this for latest vessel)
- Construction 3 yrs
- Commissioning 1 yr
Hope is that the first vessel’s steel will start being cut in August 2026 and delivery in 2030; incentives for early delivery
Shore Power: first four terminals are south-Sound; in progress using a company with significant experience in this technology

Nichole MacIntosh, Director Terminal Engineering: Terminal Construction

Eagle Harbor welding shop new building for improved efficiency and safety
South-sound repairs and maintenance
Upcoming: Replace significant vehicle and transfer span mechanical and electrical components for Anacortes, Orcas, Lopez with 48-hour full closures at Orcas and Lopez, with reduced slips at Anacortes; closure dates based on public input

John Vezina, Assistant Secretary, WSF:

Updated Pet Policy starts July 1: passenger deck opposite the galley; cleanup stations for owners
Ticketing and Reservation Modernization Project: Vezina takes full ownership of the flawed procurement process
- Vezina made the decision to cancel
- Will release final costs and learnings
- Will restart the procurement process in the summer
- Never got to the point of testing with the public; will happen with folks in the SJs
WiFi: Working with T-Mobile and starting with a couple routes
- Pilot on the Chimacum and Bremerton terminal

Audience Q&A

Question: Divide the system into two parts SJs and rest?
Answer: Forty: would have to be a legislative decision and it would create expensive duplication.

Q: Is there a way to better tailor the reservation system to better serve the residents, particularly for the SJs?
A: Vezina: staggered for non-commercial customers. Understand there are still challenges.

Q: Differences in reservations vs first-come-first-serve?
A: Forty: Some in the SJs want to return to non-reserved. Many in the community, and especially commerce (food, etc.), need the demand management that reservations provide. Could consider reservations on other routes in the future if that makes sense.

Q: Why can’t island residents have priority or reduced fares?
A: Vezina: legislators set the requirements for the budget and about 45% of the total budget is paid for by state taxpayers; every resident of the state needs to be treated equally.

Q: Sidney Route update?
A: Nevey:

2030 is still the goal
Partnership with BC Ferries? Jones Act might interfere
Vessel shortage is still the hangup

Q: “Safety of Life at Sea” (SOLAS) certification?
A: Sowers: new vessels are not currently being built for SOLAS; Forrest: standards for international routes for construction and operations; equipment had to be added to the Chelan to make it compliant; USCG waivers in the past for some requirements due to the limits on the route.

Q: Hybrid infrastructure costs?
A: Direction from the legislature and governor as the appropriators; funding for these programs come from funds that can only be used for carbon reduction.

Q: Where do “no-show” fees go?
A: Towards operations

Q: Preparation for battery fires?
A: Tools in place: fire suppression systems; sensors; cameras; battery technology has improved and standardized for vessels (full thermal runaway of one cell won’t extend to others)

Q: Could summer fare increases be only applied to weekends?
A: Forty: That would have be part of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission’s next fare-setting cycle.

Q: How will World Cup plan affect SJs?
A: Nichols: having two stand-by vessels in the system will provide more options.

Q: Seniors buying tickets online?
A: Forty: difficulty with making sure folks are truly eligible; Vezina: Need to avoid fraud to meet revenue targets.

Q: Lopez holding area expansion update?
A: WSF got funding last leg session for reservations to study; in the process of hiring the consulting firm and should kick off at the end of the year

Q: What would be the process for making the SJs a year-round schedule?
A: Forty: Just went through schedule rewrite for SJs. Would have to go to the legislature to go from two-season to one summer-based season (more $). WSF resources to rewrite the schedule aren’t currently available as they’re working on other schedules.

Q: Integration of GoodToGo with ferries?
A: Forty: looking at what might work and how it would work.

Q: Why the Sail Together Safely messaging exists?
A: Signs and announcements on-board came about by staff on-board due to real-life experiences with harassment and disrespect.