I think they will certainly try.

Trying to cut crew costs would also run into opposition. Private firms would want crews to work split shifts to save money, and, in the words of Inlandboatmen's Union President Dave Freidoth, "split shifts are out."

http://www.seattle-pi.com/local/fery171.shtml

-- Marsha (acorn_nut@hotmail.com), January 17, 2000

Answers

Well, right now they are staring 50% reductions in the face. That being the case, you'd expect all the bluster in the world to try to get the most possible funding restored, but failing that you either accept the fact that 50% of your people are going to lose their jobs, or start cooperating with plans to build more economical ferry service.

Course, the senior people have all the power and the junior people would be the ones affected by the RIF, so it may come down to the Inlandboatsmen's union deciding if they want to EAT THEIR YOUNG or not.

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), January 17, 2000.

From the website listed above.

The interest in privatizing the passenger ferries raises some good questions: If the service is viable, why has the state proposed mothballing its fleet? And what makes Kitsap Transit or some private operators think they can do better? Washington's passenger-only boats were selected for mothballing largely because they are less cost-effective than car ferries. The Chinook, for example, carries a crew of six, compared with nine for an Issaquah 130 Class ferry. The Chinook carries 350 passengers, compared with 130 cars and 1,200 passengers on the bigger ferries.

http://www.seattle-pi.com/local/fery171.shtml

This citation gives some farebox revenue figures that are in conflict with what WS Ferries tells the National Transit Administration, but those issues aside, the above facts are worth discussing.

The Chinook carries only passengers. No one has to worry about chocking cars, dealing with dead batteries, fender benders, illegal propane or acetylene tanks, oversize loads, hazardous material spills, weight and balance considerations, or any of variety of things that you need to worry about on a vehicle ferry. It carries about thirty percent of the passengers per trip, and if the courts allow it to run full speed, only has them aboard for half as long. But it needs a crew two-thirds as large? Thats going from 1 crewperson per 133 passengers and fourteen cars to one crewperson for every 58 passengers. Given that $89.6 million of the $128.7 million in operating expenses for WSF (1998 figures) was salaries, wages, and benefits (70% of total operating expenses) what DOOFUS decided that the newest boats in the fleet ought to be the MOST labor intensive, despite their modest passenger carrying capacity?

This is unfortunately typical of the poor business practices of tax subsidized monopolies.

Time to privatize the whole fleet.

-- (craigcar@crosswinds.net), January 17, 2000.