Ferry riders face long waits, and it could get worse as summer approaches

SEATTLE — Even before noon on Friday, ferry passengers in both Edmonds and Kingston faced two-hour waits.

Lisa and James Delgadillo arrived nearly an hour early for the 11:55 a.m. ferry, but didn’t get on a boat until 1:30 p.m.

“It’s frustrating because you only have so much time to enjoy your weekend,” said James Delgadillo.

The Edmonds-Kingston route should have two ferries, but only has one.

Last fall, after a wave of sailings were suddenly canceled for lack of crew, Washington State Ferries cut service so the boats still running would be more reliable.

The state has a plan for slowly restoring service across the system, but no timeline, and summer is coming.

“What keeps people up at the ferry system at night is thinking about summer, when we carry 50% more people than we do in the winter months, it’s not tolerable now on a lot of the routes,” said WSF spokesman Ian Sterling.

He said WSF’s top priority is to hire and train new workers.

“Having said that, it will likely be months before we are at a pre-pandemic level of service across all routes,” Sterling said.

The ferry system has had other recent problems.

A hard landing took a slip at Colman Dock out of service for repairs.

A stuck train crossing gate delayed ferry loading in Edmonds, and sailings were canceled when officials had trouble getting a ferry fueled.

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