Post by ferryfast admin on Sept 8, 2011 11:56:13 GMT -5
Passenger-only ferries poised for a Puget Sound return?
By LARRY LANGE, SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM
www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/Passenger-only-ferries-poised-for-a-Puget-Sound-2157366.php
Updated 03:56 p.m., Wednesday, September 7, 2011
There are plans to connect Seattle and Port Townsend with passenger ferry service within two years.
So with the state out of the foot-ferry business and one other new service trying to make a go of it, one might think we're on the verge of forming a new "mosquito fleet" of the kind people traveled on decades ago.
Or are we?
"I think we are," said Jim Pivarnik, deputy director of Port Townsend's port authority, which has a $1.3 million federal grant in hand to buy a boat for a new Seattle-to-Port Townsend route.
Port Townsend's historic buildings, restuarants, maritime center and jazz performances lure more than 1 million visitors every year, and some see that as a ready market for a new ferry. And, "I think people are looking at different ways of traveling. Money's tight," Pivarnik said.
It may take a different strategy. One private route from Seattle to Kingston was halted after a few months because of high fuel costs and inadequate numbers of riders. A more recent Seattle-to-Kingston route, initiated by Kingston's port, is still operating but isn't yet at a break-even level financially.
Other ferry routes are government-run, subsidized by taxes, and some are skeptical about the chances of a new route supporting itself.
"I think it is possible a passenger-only ferry between Port Townsend and Seattle that caters to tourists will work," said Mike Ennis, transportation director for the Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank. "But with a fragile economy that may lead to low passenger demand (and) high fuel costs, they will certainly be challenged in the short term."
In decades past, Puget Sound's "mosquito fleet" of small private passenger boats stopped at Marrowstone Island, east of Port Townsend, but didn't go further, Pivarnik said. The state briefly ran a Seattle-to-Port Townsend foot ferry during the Christmas holiday in 2007 after several aging car ferries were pulled from service, but the state service ended in January of 2008.
State car ferries call at the town but come by way of Whidbey Island and encourage drivers to turn left at the dock and continue on Highway 20, preventing some traffic congestion but diverting travelers away from downtown businesses. Port Townsend leaders think a direct route would benefit them by bringing tourists downtown while offering a service to locals who want a faster trip to Seattle by boat.
Pivarnik estimates that trip could take 75 minutes – 90 at most – compared to the 2-1/2 drive by highway.
"The feeling was in the community that it would work both ways," Pivarnik said. "In our minds, it's a win-win."
The grant is for building a boat, and the port got it after a long bout of lobbying the state's congressional delegation. The plan is to invite bids to build a boat that will carry either 49 or 78 passengers; the port is still pondering the relative efficiencies of each size vessel.
Once a boat is contracted for, Pivarnik said, the port will put its operation out for bid, ultimately contracting with a private firm to run it day to day from facilities to be leased from the port.
So far the port thinks the break-even point for the run will be an average of 40 passengers per trip. It won't be a cheap ride – $20 to $25 each way, Pivarnik said, based partly on the cost of the 240 gallons a vessel is expected to burn during each trip. It won't be a trip for low-income travelers but Pivarnik said better-off riders will find it a bargain compared with driving and riding state car ferries.
The port thinks the key to a successful operation is in tourists, not commuters, and Pivarik said the plan is for a boat with a ridership of 80 percent tourists and 20 percent commuters, possibly including groups from conventions in Seattle.
The port does not plan to subsidize the operation, however, which means its staff will be searching for operating money, possibly from the state. That subject, and others, were among those discussed at a passenger ferry conference held Tuesday in Seattle.
Instead of catering to commuters and commiting to a schedule with an uncertain demand, the new ferry may use a more flexible sailing arrangement geared to larger numbers of patrons.
"We've got to think smart and think about how we can attract more than one or two people at a time," Pivarik said.
The Port of Kingston's commuter ferry, which operates on a set schedule to Seattle, carries an average of 30 riders per trip, a fraction of the 150 needed for it to break even. Manager Meisha Rousers said patronage is "growing according to plan" and will reach the break-even point next year if the trend continues. However, another private ferry operator, Kitsap Ferry Co., discontinued Bremerton-to-Seattle service more than four years ago.
Officials of the state ferry system and the Kingston port all say they support the Port Townsend ferry proposal. "We support our communities and anything that grows ridership," said Marta Coursey, spokeswoman for the state ferry system.
Is the foot ferry fleet expanding? The industry's trade association, the Passenger Vessel Association, does not keep yearly figures on the numbers of operators. Its executive director, John Groundwater, (cq) said local government have begun exploring ferries as a way to relief road traffic congestion and support tourism.
But since virtually all are government-subsidized, finding needed money may get tougher. While they're available, Groundwater said, public funding sources are limited. As federal budget fights have raged, Congress has reduced funding for competitive grants like the one Port Townsend received.
Mark Hallenbeck, director of the Transportation Research Center at the University of Washington doesn't foresee much of an expansion, if any, in the foot-ferry fleet given the current economy and voter reluctance to approve more subsidies.
"Unfortunately, ferry routes in competition with roads, when you can drive around, (have) traditionally not been a money-making business," Hallenbeck said. "That's why the state had to take over the ferry business in the first place. I haven't seen anything that changes that basic business problem."
________________
By LARRY LANGE, SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM
www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/Passenger-only-ferries-poised-for-a-Puget-Sound-2157366.php
Updated 03:56 p.m., Wednesday, September 7, 2011
There are plans to connect Seattle and Port Townsend with passenger ferry service within two years.
So with the state out of the foot-ferry business and one other new service trying to make a go of it, one might think we're on the verge of forming a new "mosquito fleet" of the kind people traveled on decades ago.
Or are we?
"I think we are," said Jim Pivarnik, deputy director of Port Townsend's port authority, which has a $1.3 million federal grant in hand to buy a boat for a new Seattle-to-Port Townsend route.
Port Townsend's historic buildings, restuarants, maritime center and jazz performances lure more than 1 million visitors every year, and some see that as a ready market for a new ferry. And, "I think people are looking at different ways of traveling. Money's tight," Pivarnik said.
It may take a different strategy. One private route from Seattle to Kingston was halted after a few months because of high fuel costs and inadequate numbers of riders. A more recent Seattle-to-Kingston route, initiated by Kingston's port, is still operating but isn't yet at a break-even level financially.
Other ferry routes are government-run, subsidized by taxes, and some are skeptical about the chances of a new route supporting itself.
"I think it is possible a passenger-only ferry between Port Townsend and Seattle that caters to tourists will work," said Mike Ennis, transportation director for the Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank. "But with a fragile economy that may lead to low passenger demand (and) high fuel costs, they will certainly be challenged in the short term."
In decades past, Puget Sound's "mosquito fleet" of small private passenger boats stopped at Marrowstone Island, east of Port Townsend, but didn't go further, Pivarnik said. The state briefly ran a Seattle-to-Port Townsend foot ferry during the Christmas holiday in 2007 after several aging car ferries were pulled from service, but the state service ended in January of 2008.
State car ferries call at the town but come by way of Whidbey Island and encourage drivers to turn left at the dock and continue on Highway 20, preventing some traffic congestion but diverting travelers away from downtown businesses. Port Townsend leaders think a direct route would benefit them by bringing tourists downtown while offering a service to locals who want a faster trip to Seattle by boat.
Pivarnik estimates that trip could take 75 minutes – 90 at most – compared to the 2-1/2 drive by highway.
"The feeling was in the community that it would work both ways," Pivarnik said. "In our minds, it's a win-win."
The grant is for building a boat, and the port got it after a long bout of lobbying the state's congressional delegation. The plan is to invite bids to build a boat that will carry either 49 or 78 passengers; the port is still pondering the relative efficiencies of each size vessel.
Once a boat is contracted for, Pivarnik said, the port will put its operation out for bid, ultimately contracting with a private firm to run it day to day from facilities to be leased from the port.
So far the port thinks the break-even point for the run will be an average of 40 passengers per trip. It won't be a cheap ride – $20 to $25 each way, Pivarnik said, based partly on the cost of the 240 gallons a vessel is expected to burn during each trip. It won't be a trip for low-income travelers but Pivarnik said better-off riders will find it a bargain compared with driving and riding state car ferries.
The port thinks the key to a successful operation is in tourists, not commuters, and Pivarik said the plan is for a boat with a ridership of 80 percent tourists and 20 percent commuters, possibly including groups from conventions in Seattle.
The port does not plan to subsidize the operation, however, which means its staff will be searching for operating money, possibly from the state. That subject, and others, were among those discussed at a passenger ferry conference held Tuesday in Seattle.
Instead of catering to commuters and commiting to a schedule with an uncertain demand, the new ferry may use a more flexible sailing arrangement geared to larger numbers of patrons.
"We've got to think smart and think about how we can attract more than one or two people at a time," Pivarik said.
The Port of Kingston's commuter ferry, which operates on a set schedule to Seattle, carries an average of 30 riders per trip, a fraction of the 150 needed for it to break even. Manager Meisha Rousers said patronage is "growing according to plan" and will reach the break-even point next year if the trend continues. However, another private ferry operator, Kitsap Ferry Co., discontinued Bremerton-to-Seattle service more than four years ago.
Officials of the state ferry system and the Kingston port all say they support the Port Townsend ferry proposal. "We support our communities and anything that grows ridership," said Marta Coursey, spokeswoman for the state ferry system.
Is the foot ferry fleet expanding? The industry's trade association, the Passenger Vessel Association, does not keep yearly figures on the numbers of operators. Its executive director, John Groundwater, (cq) said local government have begun exploring ferries as a way to relief road traffic congestion and support tourism.
But since virtually all are government-subsidized, finding needed money may get tougher. While they're available, Groundwater said, public funding sources are limited. As federal budget fights have raged, Congress has reduced funding for competitive grants like the one Port Townsend received.
Mark Hallenbeck, director of the Transportation Research Center at the University of Washington doesn't foresee much of an expansion, if any, in the foot-ferry fleet given the current economy and voter reluctance to approve more subsidies.
"Unfortunately, ferry routes in competition with roads, when you can drive around, (have) traditionally not been a money-making business," Hallenbeck said. "That's why the state had to take over the ferry business in the first place. I haven't seen anything that changes that basic business problem."
________________