Posted by serial catowner at 9/4/07 2:44 p.m.

Right. And in other news we learn "Auditor finds Defense Department wastes $400 billion each year". Yes, it seems that every year we spend $400 billion that doesn't actually kill anyone.

Chris, don't quit your day job. Unless blogging for the P-I is it.

Posted by Prestolog at 9/4/07 4:14 p.m.

Of course every ferry run isn't packed to the hilt. It isn't supposed to be. The makers of this fine "audit" supports ferry management visions of ultimate privatization. Then you would really see a drop (say, huge) in service. It would revert to sailing when full, and at double the price (have to make a profit on top of subsidies, you know). Ernst & Young are so far detached from reality and practicality, they should go the way of Ernst Hardware.

Posted by unregistered user at 9/4/07 4:52 p.m.

I have a vacation house in the San Juans. If it weren't for the ferries, I would have to sell.

Posted by traveldoc at 9/4/07 6:07 p.m.

It's only a matter of time until we get privatization calls from Tim eyman on this one. And most Washingtonians dont' use the ferry, so itmight pass a voter initiative. If we do privvatize, there needs to be competition to hold price down and quality up. so, let's say that all crossings have a minimum of two companies providing service. you bet the price might go up at first, since currently the system is tax payer subsidized. But the service might actually increase as well, if both or more ferry systems of the future alternate times of sailings. don't always knock privatization. It has done wonders to telephone service and cost.

Posted by husky fan at 9/4/07 7:01 p.m.

I have a feeling these performance audits are about to backfire, and waste a ton of money in the process. If the auditors Brian Sontag is hiring are so smart why don't they just run things?

The answer is that these high priced auditors are making a killing. Who is going to audit how Sontag is spending our money on these things? It doesn't appear that he knows what he's doing.

Posted by unregistered user at 9/4/07 9:03 p.m.

Oh no the unregistered user would have to sell her vacation home if ferries were stopped! The horror!!

Posted by Prestolog at 9/5/07 3:01 p.m.

Don't worry, the ferries will never be privatized. They will continue to increase it's managements size exponentially until it gets too top heavy and falls over. That is where the real problem lies; not with labor, not with maintenance facilities, not with fuel costs, but with the over-bloated size of it's management.

Posted by serial catowner at 9/6/07 9:18 a.m.

The simplest thing to do would be to charge the big trucks in a way that would *encourage* them to travel between 8 PM and 6 AM. This would help fill off-peak runs and considerably ease the daytime loadings.