The Triangle route will resume its three-boat, pre-pandemic schedule beginning Monday, June 30, according to the new service restoration plan from Washington State Ferries.

And “unless there are unexpected service disruptions due to vessel issues, we expect that schedule to operate until spring 2026, when there will be a couple of weeks when only a smaller vessel is available and an improved two-boat schedule with a bonus boat will be used,” according to WSF.

WSF spokesperson Bryn Hunter said that’s due to required scheduled maintenance on several vessels. “We know this will be a period of time when we can’t operate the three boat schedule,” Hunter wrote.

WSF acknowledged in its plan that Gov. Bob Ferguson’s move to delay ferry electrification, which will allow routes like the Triangle to restore service, will also leave the agency with less slack in the system when boats or crew are unavailable.

“We’ve built a much more sustainable workforce pipeline to keep our crewing levels where we need them to be,” according to WSF. “But with more vessels in service, there will be fewer available relief crew members. That means an increased risk of short-term cancellations due to staffing shortages while we work to fill relief requests.”

Read the service plan in full at tinyurl.com/WSFMay25Plan.

Triangle Route

According to the WSF plan, the Triangle Route will have three vessels, with two-boat, no-bonus-boat service on winter weekends. “The route has always had a two-boat schedule on winter weekends, even pre-pandemic,” Hunter wrote.

There’s one exception. Due to crewing limitations, this summer, the third boat will be on “partial service.” That means one 8-hour shift for the third boat on weekends, rather than two shifts operating the boat for 16 hours a day on Saturday and Sundays, spokesperson Hunter said.

“We anticipate getting up to normal service in 2026 as we continue to add crew,” Hunter wrote.

The route ordinarily uses three extended 124-car Issaquah Class boats — planned to be the Issaquah, Kittitas and Cathlamet. When one isn’t available, WSF will use the 90-car Sealth to maintain three-boat service, according to the agency, which is smaller but still fast enough to maintain the three-boat schedule.

When there are no ferries of the right size or speed for three-boat service, the route will return to a two-boat schedule with a third unscheduled “bonus boat.”

Service on the Point Defiance / Tahlequah route is unchanged. One vessel will continue to serve that route, connecting the south end to Tacoma.

Because the new service plan also means operating without a dedicated backup vessel, a route may need to be reduced if another route loses its boat due to mechanical issues, hard landings or other snags. In those cases, WSF will start by reducing the Triangle to two-boat service, and the Seattle/Bremerton and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes to one-boat service.

The Triangle route, serving Vashon, West Seattle and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula ran on three boats until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a perfect storm of challenges led WSF to reduce service on several routes. The Triangle went down to two boats, and only began adding a third, unscheduled “bonus boat” last year. New Gov. Bob Ferguson directed WSF earlier this year to pause electrifying two vessels in the system, putting WSF at just enough vessels available to restore full domestic service.

Ferry meetings

Washington State Ferries will detail its service plans for the summer season and progress on building new ferries and other projects in two upcoming online community meetings. The first starts at noon on Wednesday, May 21. The second is at 6 p.m., Thursday, May 22.

Prior registration is required. Each meeting will cover the same material. Meeting participants will be able to ask questions and anyone can also provide comments ahead of time by emailing wsfcomms@wsdot.wa.gov.

After the meetings, video recordings will be available online on WSF’s community participation page at wsdot.wa.gov/travel/washington-state-ferries/about-us/community-participation, which also includes links to register for the meetings.

Also, the Vashon Ferry Advisory Committee next meets at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 28 at the Vashon Land Trust building, 10014 S.W. Bank Road, and on Zoom at tinyurl.com/VashonFACMay.