54 Passengers Transported with Coordination of Community Water Taxi on Sat., Jun. 15

Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 12:25 p.m.
by Jeff Noedel

Members of the Community Water Taxi (CWT) and the owner-operator of Island Water Taxi, LLC sprang into action on Saturday, June 15th when the inter-island ferry went out of service until 5:45 p.m.

The county faced the challenge of needing to move a lot of folks throughout the islands with events like the Orcas Island School District’s graduation ceremony, a marathon, and San Juan Island Pride occurring on the same day. Licensed captain Thomas Bridge provided walk-on passenger service to connect the community with many events happening on this day. A boat full of Pride attendees and two young children returning from a Friday night sleepover with their friends were especially grateful.

Everyone was grateful.

For 10 months, CWT worked to make sure passenger ferry service is provided when WSF inter-island service is canceled. After a very busy August and Autumn in 2023, demand for CWT’s services had quieted. By mid-winter, CWT had transported more than 200 passengers, according to Bridge.

But the need for supplemental passenger ferry service has increased in May and June. More than 80 rides have been supplied by Island Water Taxi in coordination with CWT in the past three weeks.

Understandably, notices of ferry cancellations are sometimes announced with little notice, causing last-minute scrambled schedules and stress for islanders relying on Washington State Ferries (WSF). The aim of this collaboration is to reduce the worry of county residents and provide continuity of much-needed transportation during WSF outages.

Last Saturday, Bridge started ferrying passengers at 6:00 a.m. and worked for 15 hours, with necessary breaks. He filled the tank of his “six-pack” boat twice. Inter-island service resumed for the watch starting at 5:45 p.m., but many people kept their bookings and Bridge didn’t return home until 9:00 p.m.

Island Water Taxi, with the coordination of CWT, transported 54 passengers — a one-day record — with approximately 18 stops that connected people for non-profit needs, essential work, personal needs, and events. Rides are generally around 20 minutes long. They are provided on a donation basis with a suggested donation of $40. Dispatch and ride organization are handled on an emergent basis via text/phone and local Facebook pages that are county transportation-related. Through CWT efforts and in partnership with San Juan County (SJC) and the Washington Department of Transportation, the SJC Voucher Program has been expanded to cover the rides for those who qualify.

CWT is a group of concerned island residents looking for solutions to an inter-island walk-on water taxi service within SJC when WSF can not perform this need. They have helped people since August of 2023 to get them to medical appointments, work, court appointments, school, and basic personal travel when there are WSF disruptions. For more information, contact them at c[email protected] and/or follow them at facebook.com/communitywatertaxi.

Island Water Taxi, LLC is a locally owned company primarily providing passenger service and standard-length vehicle barge service to non-ferry serviced or outer islands in the county on a charter basis. For more information, contact them at 360-303-6860 or [email protected].

Ed Andrews is a committee member of Community Water Taxi. He is chiefly responsible for the group’s communications.