Save our Washington State Ferry System

We, the undersigned, Washington State wish to express our extreme dissatisfaction with the actions currently being considered by the Executive Branch and the Washington State Ferry System (WSF) to resolve the challenges faced by that system.

Over the past several years marginal management, unsustainable labor agreements, questionable cost structures, patchwork funding, a dearth of reliable information, and a lack of serious commitment by the Executive Branch and Legislature have contributed to reducing the ferry system from one of the iconic marine transportation systems in the United States, if not the world, into a system being cobbled together to keep it barely functional. This is totally unacceptable!

It is time for the Executive Branch and the Legislature to face this issue head-on and restore the system to effectively meet the needs of its customers and Washington State. To this end, we the undersigned petition the Governor and the Legislature to act during the 2009 Legislative Session to:

Recognize the value of the system to the economy of Washington State, the communities being served and their residents.

Dispense with further cuts in service and take actions to restore the system so it can efficiently meet the needs of its customers.

Reaffirm that the WSF is part of Washington's highway system, that it is as important as all other major highways across the state and recognize the fiscal, legal and other obligations to the taxpayers and customers associated with that relationship.

Revise the "Made in Washington" requirement to allow WSF and Washington State to qualify for federal funding for the construction of ferries.

Provide a permanent source of equitable statewide funding to ensure the system, its beneficiaries and its customers will not continue to suffer because of lack of legislative and executive branch action.

Develop a sustainable, long term budget for the ferry system based on equitable statewide funding that caps fares at reasonable rates for ferry customers and which considers the economic and social impacts on relationships between businesses, management, labor, government agencies and ferry customers.