(1) The department shall develop, and the commission shall review, operational strategies to ensure that existing assets are fully utilized and to guide future investment decisions. These operational strategies must, at a minimum:
(a) Recognize that each travel shed is unique and might not have the same operational strategies;
(b) Use data from the current survey conducted under RCW
47.60.286;
(c) Be consistent with vehicle level of service standards;
(d) Choose the most efficient balance of capital and operating investments by using a life-cycle cost analysis; and
(e) Use methods of collecting fares that maximize efficiency and achieve revenue management control.
(2) After the commission reviews recommendations by the department, the commission and department shall make joint recommendations to the legislature for the improvement of operational strategies.
(3) In developing operational strategies, the following, at a minimum, must be considered:
(a) The feasibility of using reservation systems;
(b) Methods of shifting vehicular traffic to other modes of transportation;
(c) Methods of improving on-dock operations to maximize efficiency and minimize operating and capital costs;
(d) A cost-benefit analysis of remote holding versus overwater holding;
(e) Methods of reorganizing holding areas and minimizing on-dock employee parking to maximize the dock size available for customer vehicles;
(f) Schedule modifications;
(g) Efficiencies in exit queuing and metering;
(h) Interoperability with other transportation services;
(i) Options for leveling vehicle peak demand; and
(j) Options for increasing off-peak ridership.
(4) Operational strategies must be reevaluated periodically and, at a minimum, before developing a new capital plan.