There are steps the state can take to improve ferry service
In response to David Behar's recent letter regarding ferry service.
When Gov. Inslee mandated vaccination against COVID, there were existing staffing issues. That led to approximately 120 people leaving the system in critical roles. Ever since, maintaining the existing skeletal service has been an impossible task. I have reached out to multiple legislators and from the lack of action I've seen from the Governor, it seems like this isn't a top priority.
Here's what I would do. 1.) Get rid of the vaccine mandate. Oregon has done this, BC Transit has done this. We need the service. 2.) Part-time on-call has to go. You won't have people join ferries when it only pays $24 per hour starting and part-time. 3.) Pay for credentialing and training. In order to join ferries on the boats, you are required to have a Transportation Worker Identification Card and Merchant Marine Credential before application. The legislature allocated $350 million to fix staffing, let's pay people to train, commit for a few years to the job in exchange for the training.
Our legislators need to make a loud and clear message. The current state of service is unacceptable and the Governor needs to get out of the way of returning service. WSF needs to listen to the riders as well.
Daniel Hodun, Bremerton
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: There are steps the state can take to improve ferry service
