The future of Washington state ferries

Washington State Ferries unveiled their new plans for a hybrid-electric fleet that will be greener and more reliable

[rileybrewer]

The Ferry system has been disastrously managed. There's no reason to believe this plan will work any better than the previous one.

[niktereuto]

Hybrid diesel is the sweet spot right now. It’s a proven technology that works.

The ferry between Houston and Galveston is hybrid diesel, as are numerous ferries in Japan and South Korea.

The caveat is whether or not they can actually get them built and in service in a reasonable time frame and cost. We will see.

But the boats and tech themselves are solid.

[Walcingham]

Good journalism would have told us the price of these fancy new boats and how the state plans to come up with what must be billions of dollars for all those new boats...

[ng]

One of the reasons for the slow times is that WSF is a department of WashDOT.. and part of the highway system... They are mandated to carry automobiles. The pedestrian ferries are smaller, faster, and much cheaper but are funded by the local municipalities or counties... which do not have nearly as robust funding as the state. SFBay Ferry in CA is a model that should be more replicated around the Puget Sound.

[YouDontWannaFightMe]

I’m glad they’ll be bringing a second vessel back to the Bremerton route. The current schedule is laughably scarce. My 1:30 ferry yesterday was cancelled with a handwritten note at the entrance, so I had to walk back home and cancel my plans for the day. Next one would’ve been at 4:15 according to their sailing schedule. How pathetic!

[chrisgunsandguitars]

Wait until those batteries catch fire. Good news is they won’t run out of water trying to put it out. How long are the batteries supposed to last? Oh that’s right. Just like car dealers, you have no idea. They could have refurbished an old boat and replaced the diesel engines far faster than building a new partially electric boat! More of this horrible governor wasting money.

[TheFreddyja]

WSF needs to have Todd’s Shipyard/VIGOR do the job. They got the boats right when they did them. The last ship builder had to fill the hull with Cement to balance out the vessel. That means there is ALWAYS that extra weight onboard which means more fuel being burned each minute, each crossing, these boats are nicknamed the ILEAN Class lol. Give the bid to Vigor don’t go cheap on this round!! Should be up to the tax payers who gets to build the boats being we foot the bill year round as a tax payer!!

[mikeberger]

Ha ha ! Go green, better keep the old ferry’s around to pull the green ferry back to shore when they breakdown in the middle of the sound!

[jason]

Exclusive? How so? Are Washington ferries only speaking to king5? I’m confused. Are these ferries not publicly-disclosed? What’s the exclusive part?

[jotun]

Diesel and battery fires are not green. It s so crazy how we think current battery tech is "green". Reminds me when thought if you eat vegan your saving the world.

[NickFinco]

Let's wait another 5 years for new tech instead of fixing the glaring problems now. WSDOT needs new management.

[loknlode]

So you're still using diesel to make it go. Got it. Absolutely incredible 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[harrylessinger]

What does the Washington State Ferry System plan to do with all of the old ferry boats currently dry-docked on Bainbridge Island? Shouldn't they do something?. They're a terrible eyesore.

[americanrambler]

Not a small proportion of the noise and vibration on the ferries comes from the propellers and their churning through the water pushing those ferries along. Also plenty of noise also comes from the machinery on board such as the heating and ventilation system. So these boats are not going to be a whole lot quieter. They will still have diesel engines and big gear boxes and generators. Those all make noise too.

[Worldindecline]

where does the electricity for the grid get made? Probably by burning fossil fuels...

[hansnelsen]

Isn't human reliability the bigger problem? Crew that do not show? And simply the demand of growing number of trips per person, cars per family, dependence on private transportation. Its up to government to reign it in instead of cater to it.

[clint]

Just imagine if we used our ship yards in state to build hybrid diesel electric boats, WSF could almost run like a real biz. Grow the local economy and provide a good service, who thinks like this?

[steveelrino]

I look forward to these being pulled from service for a chance someone might get shocked.

[mrjumbly]

Sounds like this is a Combined diesel-electric and diesel meaning the diesel powers an electric motor or charge batteries, it is a very common system for modern ship propulsion, the diesel engine can be also driving the ship if the electric system is down. It has a lot of versatility it can use 1 or both diesels depending on the need. I would be interested in seeing what company is supplying the engines and electric motors.

[Idahoprepper]

You ferry riders, if you think it’s expensive now, wait till these boats come in service you have to fill out a loan application just to get on board😂.