WSF lays out contingency plan to limit disruptions; 24-hour hold and interisland priority highlighted

Washington State Ferries presented its third update to a service contingency plan and told the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee that the system is operating on thin spare capacity and is refining how it responds to breakdowns.

"We have a 21-vessel fleet. We're currently running 17 or 18 vessels in service depending on what season it is," Jason Rogers, planning manager for Washington State Ferries, said. Rogers said the plan aims for transparency and more consistent responses so the public can better anticipate service changes.

Rogers described the plan's "24-hour rule," which avoids large vessel movements during the first 24 hours after a disruption so engineers can attempt repairs and the system can settle. "Basically don't do anything for the first day or so, first 24 hours," he said, while listing exceptions for single-vessel routes where passengers could be stranded.

The plan also stresses preserving interisland service: "We're not in general pulling the interisland vessel to do other things," Rogers said, while acknowledging occasional exceptions for unusually heavy traffic. WSF provided a vessel-compatibility chart that scores how well each vessel class works on each route; the chart is intended to explain why some boats are not feasible on particular landings.

Rogers outlined a flexible route-priority order for pulling relief vessels and said the agency will relax the 24-hour hold on central-Sound routes during the World Cup to allow faster relief deployments, with extra crew and terminal staff on hand.

Committee members raised concerns about how disruption decisions get communicated to terminal agents and the public. "It can take some time to push the information down, and it might be outdated by the time it gets there," Rogers said, noting improvements but acknowledging more work on timeliness and clarity.

The committee asked WSF to keep clarifying alerts (including consistent vessel naming) and suggested using video snippets from Jasons internal presentation to help residents understand vessel assignments and the plan—s logic. WSF staff said they will continue refining internal and external communications and posted public meeting dates to discuss updates.

The presentation and the contingency plan document are available via links WSF offered to the committee; committee members asked staff to consider summarizing the vessel-compatibility table and allotment logic for San Juan Islands residents.

Next steps: WSF said it will continue improvements to alerts and terminal coordination and will host community meetings as part of the summer outreach schedule.