By Kristina Stucki

Sounder contributor

The County’s pilot program for emergency transportation during ferry disruptions could begin offering services in the San Juan Islands as soon as this week. The project aims to provide three different services: daily passenger boats on the Anacortes routes, emergency passenger boats for the interisland routes during ferry disruptions and emergency barge services for critical health/utility/safety needs.

At their March 31 meeting, the County Council chose the three service providers who will contract with the County to provide free transport to passengers – subsidized by the Emergency Rapid Response funding awarded by Gov. Jay Inslee to the County last fall.

“I’m proud that the County is taking steps to provide this valuable service to islanders,” said Council Member Kari McVeigh. “I’m excited to get it up and running in the coming weeks.”

The pilot program, which was initiated last August with a request to the Governor’s Office for “executive relief” from ferry disruptions, has gone through several steps over the last eight months – the most recent of which was choosing between various bids for which service providers would be best for the job. Now, all they must do is finalize the contracts, with a planned start date of mid-April for all three services.

The interisland passenger service, offered during ferry disruptions by local business Outer Islands Excursions, has already been up and running and will continue until April 15, when the new contract is expected to be in place. The twice-daily passenger-only boats between Anacortes, Lopez, Orcas and Friday Harbor and the emergency barge services will be available soon after.

The emergency funding provision expires in June, based on the state budget cycle, but the Council is hoping to use this pilot project as a way to gather data for future projects.

“We will likely be applying for an extension since it looks like there will be funds to continue it,” Council Member Justin Paulsen explained. “That is still to be determined.”

Currently, passengers can use the emergency interisland service when there are disruptions. Outer Island Excursions’ Emergency Interisland Water Taxi website (https://www.outerislandx.com/zh/emergency-water-taxi) is where passengers can check for scheduling information and to make reservations when the interisland ferry has disruptions longer than two hours. The service is free of charge, and reservations are only required if passengers are bringing pets, babies or luggage larger than a backpack.

Orcas Island resident Beau Brandow is excited for his business to get involved in this way.

“It’s a privilege to get out there and move people around when they need the help,” he said. “I know we’ve all struggled as businesses and individuals with overcoming the odds of the ferry system over the last few years. I’m happy to supplement that service in any way we can and we are very thankful that Washington State has helped us do that.”

Brandow’s business was selected by the Council to continue as one of the contracted service providers, along with Pintail Marine and San Juan Safaris. Once the contracts are finalized, services will begin, and data will be collected on how many ferries are canceled, passengers serviced and trips made.

“I look forward to seeing the data that is gathered and learning how this project is serving our community,” McVeigh said. “I hope it will give locals peace of mind knowing there are options for them or their children to get home if the ferries are canceled.”