The bathrooms aboard our ferries are not pleasant places. They’re dirty. You
Published 7:00 am Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The bathrooms aboard our ferries are not pleasant places. They’re dirty. You have to dry your hands with one of those dank, cloth towels. And, worst of all, the toilet paper leaves you with regrets for days. This is the kind of detail occasional riders overlook. But, for regular riders, and members of what WSF-boss David Moseley has referred to as “ferry-dependent communities,” it’s a pain in the ass. The kind of thing you’d change if you had to use it.But Mr. Moseley is not a member of one of said communities. A resident of Pioneer Square, Moseley told me, “I see the ferries a lot,” but he doesn’t leave Mariners games in the top of the Seventh, he doesn’t miss late-night happy hours, or the end of plays so he can catch the 10:30 p.m. ferry home rather than the 12:50 a.m.With that in mind, I wasn’t completely shocked that Moseley opened Monday’s WSF workshop by telling riders that, despite community pleas, the 10:30 boat would not be pushed back any later. His reason: There are regular riders on the 10:30 boat who need to get to the graveyard shift at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton’s largest employer.The surprise came after the workshop, when Moseley, gracious enough to risk missing the 9 p.m. sailing home (11:40 p.m. was his next option) explained to me that the commuters who rely on the 10:30 sailing to PSNS number somewhere in the 30-40 range. So, WSF is willing to cut off a huge segment of nightlife to thousands of customers to accommodate a few dozen riders? No. There’s another reason. WSF doesn’t want to change the schedule, either. “Scheduling is a complicated factor,” Moseley said. “You impact one, you impact another. You start moving pieces around, you start dealing with unintended consequences.”To Puget Sound residents who don’t live and die by the ferries, this has got to sound like a petty issue. But to those who have never attended a concert, play, or sporting event without being glued to their watch and the most recent boat schedule, it’s a lifestyle. Just ask Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard, who recently told the audience at Bremerton’s Admiral Theater that he missed the end of every great show as a kid so he could cat the early boat home. The lack of a reasonable late-night schedule causes residents to drive 50 minutes to catch the Bainbridge boat, drive onto the ferry in the morning, or, even more common, pass on the show, which makes the region all the more unappealing to call home. This is a major issue for ferry riders. Yet, WSF focused on fringe ideas, Monday, like a reservation system for cars and off-peak pricing. I wasn’t the only one who felt like the most pressing issues — gaps in the route, anxiety over dependable service, etc. — were hardly addressed.“These feel like small system tweaks that will help the customer experience,” said Joan Dingfield, a member of the Bremerton Ferry Advisory Committee. “I have not heard the big fundamental shift conversations that need to happen to make this system sustainable.”The passenger-only ferries WSF has in reserve — and sometimes up for auction – could help fill gaps in service, reduce costs for off-peak runs, and act as back-ups. But, Moseley’s not considering it. The legislature, he says — which has ordered WSF out of the passenger-only business – has made the choice for him. Even if the decision came before four boats were retired and the system was left hanging by a shoestring. “I know this is important to you,” he told me after the meeting. “I’m going to do what the legislature told (us) to do.”Just me? It’s important to the entire ferry-riding community, which is one cracked hull, wind storm, or bum motor away from disrupted service.Makes me think about what Transportation Commission member Bob Distler said toward the end of the evening.“Everyone in this room is familiar with the ferry system. They use it to get to work … to do what they need to do.”Not everyone.
