I meant to note this in an earlier open thread, but over the weekend, some of the state ferries didn’t run for a bit (Seattle Times link).
The Kitsap Sun reports dozens of runs on three routes -Point Defiance-Tahlequah, the north end of Vashon Island, and Port Townsend-Coupeville – were canceled for lack of crew.
Dispatchers ran out of relief and on-call workers who were needed to fill in for regular employees on vacation or medical leave.
This is what happens with years of cuts and cuts and cuts. Service gets cut. Most of the time people are able to make things work but when there are fewer options available, the potential for trouble increases.
Now, I think our Washington State Ferry system is great: I’m glad to have used it and almost certainly will use it again in the future. But I didn’t need any of those particular runs, on that particular day, so by GOP logic, I shouldn’t care about other people inconvenienced. But of course, we’re all a community, so it does harm. And of course the more things like this happen, the more cops and fire get cut from local communities, the more our road and bridge repairs get put off, the more likely any problem is to hit any of us.