Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

9 0 INTERV IEW Up for a challenge Sandra Speares asks Amy Scarton how Washington State Ferries is continuing to pursue its long-term goals despite the challenging times T he year 2020 began as a normal for Washington State Ferries (WSF), but by February, the company was starting to see steep declines in passenger numbers due to the growing Covid-19 pandemic. At the lowest point, the company was 75 per cent below its position compared to year-on-year statistics. In addition, some crew were unavailable and revenue was decreasing, so WSF extended its winter season schedule into the summer months. “We brought all our services down to the lowest level and we had a number of employees on alternate work assignments,” says Amy Scarton, chief executive at WSF. Construction was also halted on a state- wide basis, with virtually all economic activities put on hold. “We shut our own shipyard for a period of weeks,” says Scarton. “Construction work on some of our biggest projects, including Colman Dock and Mukilteo terminal, was paused.” However, WSF was able to continue working on some of the key elements of its long-range plan, which was announced in 2019 and predicts that ridership will grow more than 30 per cent by 2040, climbing to nearly 32 million passengers annually. Key elements of the plan include enhancing the customer experience, embracing new technology and improving service reliability by preserving vessels and terminals, as well as strengthening the resilience of the workforce. To achieve these goals, Scarton says WSF will make coordinated investments in its fleet, terminal infrastructure, workforce and technology over the next 20 years. The focus will be on building a reliable fleet that has a lighter environmental footprint and outperforms carbon dioxide reduction “We’re adding solar panels to more terminals and looking at how we operate”