Following a December announcement by Washington State Ferries chief Lynne Griffith that she will retire at the end of January, a new chief has been chosen.

Last week, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) officials announced Amy Scarton — WSDOT’s current assistant secretary for Community and Economic Development — will succeed Griffith. A news release indicated Scarton has worked in the transportation industry both in Washington State and Washington, D.C. She has held senior roles in both the Obama and Bush administrations at the U.S. Department of Transportation and served as legal counsel to former Chairman James Oberstar of the U.S. House of Representatives Highway and Transit Subcommittee. Locally, she has managed the WSDOT offices that support the agencies’ rail, freight, aviation, local programs, planning and public transportation activities.

In the release, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee said he is “pleased someone with Amy Scarton’s experience can take the helm at ferries and build on the team’s recent successes.”

Scarton’s appointment comes at a time when Ferries is working to address long-standing problems that plague the triangle route, and came to a head this past summer. Work is currently underway to create a volunteer task force of ferry riders from all three communities served by the route. Reached last Wednesday, WSF spokesman Brian Mannion said that he’s finalizing the roster of volunteers and working to schedule the first meeting.

“We’re figuring out schedules and … still hope to meet by the end of January,” he said.

An announcement about the details of the first meeting should be coming soon.

Meanwhile, WSF’s ridership last year topped 24.2 million, the highest level in a decade, according to a Thursday news release. Those passengers were carried on 162,327 trips with the Bainbridge-Seattle route seeing the highest ridership.

The WSF statement indicates that on the triangle route alone, there were more than 3 million riders — 2.8 percent more than last year — the fifth-highest ridership in Ferries’ 10-route system.

“Ridership is definitely on the rise,” WSF Chief of Staff Elizabeth Kosa said in the statement. “We are adding two new vessels to the system, however, maintaining aging ferries and providing enough service to meet demand continues to be a challenge.”

Scarton said she’s up to those challenges.

“I’m excited to join the crew of Washington State Ferries,” she said in the release. “I know there will be challenges ahead, and we will keep our focus on maintaining our strong safety record and improving service reliability.”