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Post by ferryfast admin on Mar 31, 2005 22:56:54 GMT -5
Friday, April 1, 2005 Capitol Watch: Ferry service in doubt SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD seattlepi.nwsource.com/The Legislature may again be on the brink of stifling what should be a key element in Washington State Ferries' transportation future. Funding for passenger-only service to downtown Seattle from Vashon Island and Southworth is on the bubble. House Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, has expressed support for the ferry system plan to pull two multimillion-dollar passenger vessels out of mothballs to run the triangle route. But Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, has expressed reservations about bolstering service on the busy commuter route while the ferry system is pondering a fare increase. "I don't want to look people in the eyes and say, 'We're increasing your fares by 6 percent and, by the way, we're going to start a new passenger-only ferry service,' " Haugen told the Puget Sound Passenger Ferry Coalition. "It's unacceptable." It would be far more unacceptable to raise fares while dropping existing service. The passenger-only issue is further complicated by the nascent private ferry service, including a questionable proposal to introduce private service from Southworth to downtown. It would be a mistake for the state ferry system to abandon its passenger-only business line -- and its loyal Vashon and Southworth riders. What's missing is a vision of the Puget Sound as a large, unified, regional transit system served by a combination of private, state, local and regional transit operations.
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