At Islanders for Ferry Action (IFA), we feel hopeful as we turn a new page in the island’s years-long saga with Washington State Ferries (WSF).

Back in March, Governor Ferguson promised to restore ferry service to pre-pandemic levels, including three boat service on the Triangle Route. Like everyone else on Vashon, we hope WSF can meet the service expectations set by the restored schedule. But scheduling boats and actually delivering on the promise are two different things. As one Facebook post put it: “I sure hope they have the boats and crew for this three-boat schedule.”

So, we hope, but verify.

IFA is in the process of establishing a performance monitoring team to verify whether the Governor’s promise is being kept (or not). For example, how many days did we actually get the promised three-boat service? We will also track other metrics, such as the number of days WSF exceeds the WSF guidelines for loading at Southworth, shorting Vashon commuters on deck space they badly need to get to their jobs.

As hopeful as we are, we must tell you that there’s good reason to be worried about WSF’s ability to keep the Governor’s promise.

WSF has left no room for error. They have only enough boats to cover the schedule if nothing goes wrong. The loss of even one of the aging boats in the system will mean WSF will pull a boat from the Triangle Route, shifting us to a poorly designed “updated” two-boat contingency schedule.

That’s because the WSF emergency contingency plan designates the Triangle Route as the first route to lose a boat to any route that’s down a vessel for 24 hours or more. It’s hard to understand WSF’s thinking here. At least WSF could rotate the first call emergency boat service among multiple routes to share the pain.

Worse yet, there will be no new boats for years, so this isn’t just a plan for 2026. The WSF plan will make Vashon ferry riders suffer for years to come. Vashon ferry riders have no alternative road route. We rely solely on the ferries.

In fact, even before starting the new three-boat schedule, WSF has already announced that the Triangle Route will lose a boat for two months out of the next year, in March and November 2026. We’ll be on the flawed two-boat backup schedule almost one-fifth of the days next year. That’s a minimum loss of service, even if there are no boat breakdowns.

Sadly, the new two-boat (including the bonus boat if it is available) contingency schedule is awful. After a year of study, and despite much Vashon input, WSF failed to cure the deeply flawed two-boat schedule. It’s a near carbon copy of the schedule we lived with for more than four years of the pandemic. The midday and evening gaps are still there, as debilitating as ever. Plus, the two-boat schedule still fails to balance user needs and service levels, given that Vashon provides more than 70% of the Triangle Route ridership, and the other two terminals possess robust highway and transit options not possible for Vashon riders.

Still, we have reasons to be hopeful because the Vashon community knows how to get things done. With your help, we’ve accomplished a lot in the last couple of years. We’re proud to have:

• Organized a community forum to gather solutions to the ferry crisis. Our legislators came to Vashon for the forum, and they listened and acted on our behalf.

• Published a book of more than 50 constructive suggestions to help WSF do a better job.

• Kept continuous communication with our elected leaders to keep them informed and support their efforts to help.

• Fought for and won new mid-day service on the King County Water Taxi, now renewed for a second year.

• Helped secure funding for recruiting, training, and retaining more crew to run the boats and reduce a prime cause of cancelled sailings.

• Advocated for a new Fauntleroy dock design that aims to meet our needs by looking 75 years into the future.

Now, about that monitoring program. IFA’s work is not done. We are moving to a new phase of effort aimed at ensuring the Governor’s promises are kept. We need to add a team of smart community members who have the life experience to help us track and compile data about WSF’s real performance. Database experts. Infographics designers. Car counters. Fingers and toes to help us hope, but verify.

Take a look at our track record and consider: Isn’t this a team you’d like to join, where you can make a difference for Vashon? Please contribute your time, talent, and skill to help with this historic new monitoring program. Contact us via amy.drayer@vashonchamber.com to learn more about our work and how you might fit into our highly motivated and successful team. Plus, we’re fun to hang out with!

Amy Drayer, Wendy Aman, Beth Lindsay and Rick Wallace comprise the steering committee for Islanders for Ferry Action.