Angry Washington ferry riders are abusing wsdot ferry workers.

I don't get to do it much now, but one of my favorite things to do over the years when I was younger was ride the Washington State ferry system. When Dad would take us salmon fishing on the Olympic Peninsula, we would all ride the Washington State ferry to Kingston.  

Later when my older brother took a job in Bremerton, I would ride the Bremerton ferry to go visit him, again to me a wonderful experience. My favorite thing to do would be to get on the upper deck, go out near the railing and just let the wind blow in my face and feel those diesel engines rumble beneath my feet. 

Over the years at least from looking in from the outside it seems that the Washington State ferry system has become less efficient. My sister Jenny travels from Port Townsend to Seattle a couple times a month and she says the wait time can sometimes approach two to three hours. 

Imagine living in Anacortes but working in Seattle. Taking the boat every day to and from work it could get stressful for passengers. Now add the stress of getting away for a weekend or getting back home from a weekend and you potentially have trouble.  

This year there seems to be a significant uptick in rider dissatisfaction which manifests as angry riders abusing Washington State Ferry staff.  

The Washington State ferry system is the largest public ferry system in the United States. It's also understaffed and underfunded. Right now, only 15 of the 26 boats in the ferry system are actually operational. 

According to Fox13seattle.com,
‘On Wednesday morning, authorities were called to handle an irate passenger aboard a ferry sailing on the Bainbridge route. This incident comes on the heels of an apology from Washington State Ferries leadership to ferry workers following a surge in "abuse" from angry passengers, as tensions on routes across Puget Sound escalate. A memo penned by Assistant Secretary Steve Nevey acknowledged the hardships endured by frontline workers.’ 

Because they are understaffed, the Washington State ferry system is trying to hire additional workers. The problem is how do they retain those workers if they're being abused daily by passengers while they are doing their job? 

I know it's easy for me to tell somebody to “chill out.” I'm not the one that's coming home from work two hours late for dinner because I missed my boat.  

Maybe it's time to find a job where you can work remotely. 

I'm just sayin'.

WA ferry workers face escalating ‘abuse’ from angry riders (yahoo.com)
Ferry system becomes key issue in WA gubernatorial race (fox13seattle.com)