Washington State Ferries is facing serious challenges, the agency said today in a press release from Olympia

With the increased costs of operations due to rising fuel prices and the need for investment in infrastructure and new ferries, the challenges are growing each day. Over the past several months, the State Transportation Commission has been involved in a comprehensive effort to gather data on ferry customers to help the Washington State Department of Transportation's Ferries Division and our state's decision makers identify comprehensive solutions that will meet the needs of its customers in the future.

As part of this effort, beginning in mid-July and continuing through mid-August, Opinion Research Northwest will be conducting a second survey of ferry riders on-board more than 150 randomly selected ferry trips. All routes will be surveyed as part of this comprehensive survey effort.

The purpose of the Ferry Customer Survey is to gather information from a representative sample of ferry customers on their travel behaviors and attitudes. The research also asks customers to provide feedback on a number of operational and other strategies that are being considered by Ferries to help inform decisions regarding how to better utilize existing ferry capacity, increase the efficiency with which the system operates, and evaluate the need for capital expansion to meet current and future demands for service.

This is the second and final wave of on-board surveys for this study. The first wave was completed in March 2008 and nearly 5,500 ferry customers responded. The study is using two waves of surveys to track changes in travel behavior between the winter and summer seasons. It is important for ferry customers who responded to the first on-board surveys to also respond to this survey so that we can understand if your summer and winter travel is different. The survey also contains additional questions on operational strategies that have been revised in part from customers' previous input.

Participation in the survey is voluntary. Individual survey responses are kept confidential and are only used for statistical purposes. The Commission continues to ask all customers on the sampled routes to take the time to complete this important survey and to play a role in planning state ferry system's future.

For more information on the Ferry Customer Survey, go to:

http://www.wstc.wa.gov/FerryCustomerSurvey/default.htm For more information on Opinion Research Northwest and to see a list of Frequently Asked Questions about this study, go to: http://www.opinionresearch.com/northwest

If you would like to contact ORC-NW for more information about this study, please call (866) 461-0700 and ask for the ferry study or e-mail ferryinfo@nwrg.com.

If you would like to contact the Washington State Transportation Commission, you can reach their offices at (360) 705-7070 or you may send an e-mail to transc@wsdot.wa.gov.