Post by ferryfast admin on Jan 30, 2006 10:56:16 GMT -5
Monday, January 30, 2006
Foot-ferry service strives to stay afloat
By LARRY LANGE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Transportation planners are once again wrestling with how to serve foot-ferry commuters on Puget Sound, as financial pressures grow once again on the state system.
The issue has long been hung up in the Legislature, where lawmakers have argued over whether cross-Sound passenger-only traffic should be served by Washingon State Ferries or by private operators.
"It's always a huge fight," said Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-Seattle.
This year two bills have been introduced that would open the door further to private operators, perhaps contracted by local government, to provide service between Seattle and Southworth and Seattle and Kingston.
One proposal, Senate Bill 6787, would divert sales tax from the system's fuel purchases into a pool of money that could be used to subsidize ferries run by counties or local transit districts.
The Senate measure would take the state completely out of the foot-ferry trade by directing the system to sell all four of its passenger-only boats -- two of them now mothballed at the Eagle Harbor maintenance base.
"The car ferry is the basis of our ferry system and you need to do a very good job of that without continuing to raise the cost," said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, a Senate bill sponsor and longtime skeptic of the state's foot ferries.
Another measure, being developed in the House, would leave the state running the subsidized Vashon-to-Seattle route but require the system to sell high-speed boats it ran on its discontinued Bremerton run. Both measures would direct the sales proceeds to subsidize service on the Southworth, Kingston and Bremerton routes.
"Our folks also deserve to have direct commuter-route, passenger-only ferries to Seattle. It's important to Kitsap (County). It's important for Seattle," said Rep. Beverly Woods, R-Poulsbo, vice-chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee and author of the House measure.
While Vashon service has continued, foot-ferry service from Seattle to Bremerton and Kingston has been an on-again, off-again thing.
The state ran foot-ferry service both to Vashon and to Bremerton during the 1990s but later abandoned the Bremerton service because of high costs and problems with the wakes stirred by the high-speed boats.
The state has kept service to Vashon, which has no other access to mainland communities but has also proposed running a three-cornered route that would link downtown Seattle to Vashon and to Southworth on the west side of the Sound.
To save costs, Vashon service was reduced by half last fall, and ridership dropped 9 percent from 2004. Ferry officials told a task force last summer that without adding Southworth riders to the Vashon mix "there is a reduced demand for passenger-only service on this route." Some riders may be riding car ferries or staying home; Metro bus ridership from the island has increased.
When the state retreated from foot-ferry service in 2003, private operators began moving in. Kitsap Ferry Co. began Bremerton-to-Seattle service in 2004 and still operates on a former state route. Aqua Express started commuter-hour service from Kingston to Seattle a year ago but gave it up because of low ridership and escalating fuel costs.
In both cases Kitsap Transit money helped initiate and subsidize the private service.
Some Democrats have worked to keep the routes in the state system. The impasse has prevented a permanent solution.
A 19-member task force that convened last year outlined three alternatives for Vashon-Southworth service: a state-operated Vashon-Southworth-Seattle foot-ferry service; passenger-only Kitsap Transit service linking Southworth to Seattle, with Vashon to be served by either the state or Kitsap Transit; and Southworth-Seattle car ferry service on weekdays along with continued Vashon-Seattle foot-ferry service and a small-boat shuttle between Vashon and Southworth weekdays.
A study said the Kitsap Transit service would be less costly because of labor rates as much as $16 per hour lower than the state's system. Woods said the prospect of lower costs helped prompt her bill. She and Haugen said cost reductions may be needed if the state system is to meet commitments such as building five new car ferries.
Kitsap Transit conceded the cost differences were less than initially reported. Kitsap Transit Director Dick Hayes said his agency could still provide the service for less by contracting with private operators, guaranteeing the operators' costs but providing a tax-funded subsidy. "It's about the money," he said.
Kitsap Transit-subsidized operations will eventually require a voter-approved tax levy once boats are acquired and docks developed. Private operations remain an issue with many, however. House Transportation Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, remains concerned that private operators will only continue service on profitable runs. Unions oppose subsidizing non-union operators.
"We don't believe there should be a state subsidy to operators who pay low wages and less benefits," said maritime labor lobbyist Gordon Baxter.
There's general agreement that Vashon service should continue, given its circumstance. Riders seem worried most about having consistent service, recalling the suspended service from Kingston. Private operators have shown less interest in service to Vashon than to Southworth, which they see as a growing market. King County has been mentioned as a possible Vashon ferry operator but it has thrown its support behind a state-operated "triangle" route and offered money to help it.
"It works," Vashon rider David Leonhardt said of the Vashon service, which draws about half its riders from Southworth now. "It's keeping people out of their cars and getting them downtown. This ought to be a poster child for success."
P-I reporter Larry Lange can be reached at 206-448-8313 or larrylange@seattlepi.com.
Foot-ferry service strives to stay afloat
By LARRY LANGE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Transportation planners are once again wrestling with how to serve foot-ferry commuters on Puget Sound, as financial pressures grow once again on the state system.
The issue has long been hung up in the Legislature, where lawmakers have argued over whether cross-Sound passenger-only traffic should be served by Washingon State Ferries or by private operators.
"It's always a huge fight," said Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-Seattle.
This year two bills have been introduced that would open the door further to private operators, perhaps contracted by local government, to provide service between Seattle and Southworth and Seattle and Kingston.
One proposal, Senate Bill 6787, would divert sales tax from the system's fuel purchases into a pool of money that could be used to subsidize ferries run by counties or local transit districts.
The Senate measure would take the state completely out of the foot-ferry trade by directing the system to sell all four of its passenger-only boats -- two of them now mothballed at the Eagle Harbor maintenance base.
"The car ferry is the basis of our ferry system and you need to do a very good job of that without continuing to raise the cost," said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, a Senate bill sponsor and longtime skeptic of the state's foot ferries.
Another measure, being developed in the House, would leave the state running the subsidized Vashon-to-Seattle route but require the system to sell high-speed boats it ran on its discontinued Bremerton run. Both measures would direct the sales proceeds to subsidize service on the Southworth, Kingston and Bremerton routes.
"Our folks also deserve to have direct commuter-route, passenger-only ferries to Seattle. It's important to Kitsap (County). It's important for Seattle," said Rep. Beverly Woods, R-Poulsbo, vice-chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee and author of the House measure.
While Vashon service has continued, foot-ferry service from Seattle to Bremerton and Kingston has been an on-again, off-again thing.
The state ran foot-ferry service both to Vashon and to Bremerton during the 1990s but later abandoned the Bremerton service because of high costs and problems with the wakes stirred by the high-speed boats.
The state has kept service to Vashon, which has no other access to mainland communities but has also proposed running a three-cornered route that would link downtown Seattle to Vashon and to Southworth on the west side of the Sound.
To save costs, Vashon service was reduced by half last fall, and ridership dropped 9 percent from 2004. Ferry officials told a task force last summer that without adding Southworth riders to the Vashon mix "there is a reduced demand for passenger-only service on this route." Some riders may be riding car ferries or staying home; Metro bus ridership from the island has increased.
When the state retreated from foot-ferry service in 2003, private operators began moving in. Kitsap Ferry Co. began Bremerton-to-Seattle service in 2004 and still operates on a former state route. Aqua Express started commuter-hour service from Kingston to Seattle a year ago but gave it up because of low ridership and escalating fuel costs.
In both cases Kitsap Transit money helped initiate and subsidize the private service.
Some Democrats have worked to keep the routes in the state system. The impasse has prevented a permanent solution.
A 19-member task force that convened last year outlined three alternatives for Vashon-Southworth service: a state-operated Vashon-Southworth-Seattle foot-ferry service; passenger-only Kitsap Transit service linking Southworth to Seattle, with Vashon to be served by either the state or Kitsap Transit; and Southworth-Seattle car ferry service on weekdays along with continued Vashon-Seattle foot-ferry service and a small-boat shuttle between Vashon and Southworth weekdays.
A study said the Kitsap Transit service would be less costly because of labor rates as much as $16 per hour lower than the state's system. Woods said the prospect of lower costs helped prompt her bill. She and Haugen said cost reductions may be needed if the state system is to meet commitments such as building five new car ferries.
Kitsap Transit conceded the cost differences were less than initially reported. Kitsap Transit Director Dick Hayes said his agency could still provide the service for less by contracting with private operators, guaranteeing the operators' costs but providing a tax-funded subsidy. "It's about the money," he said.
Kitsap Transit-subsidized operations will eventually require a voter-approved tax levy once boats are acquired and docks developed. Private operations remain an issue with many, however. House Transportation Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, remains concerned that private operators will only continue service on profitable runs. Unions oppose subsidizing non-union operators.
"We don't believe there should be a state subsidy to operators who pay low wages and less benefits," said maritime labor lobbyist Gordon Baxter.
There's general agreement that Vashon service should continue, given its circumstance. Riders seem worried most about having consistent service, recalling the suspended service from Kingston. Private operators have shown less interest in service to Vashon than to Southworth, which they see as a growing market. King County has been mentioned as a possible Vashon ferry operator but it has thrown its support behind a state-operated "triangle" route and offered money to help it.
"It works," Vashon rider David Leonhardt said of the Vashon service, which draws about half its riders from Southworth now. "It's keeping people out of their cars and getting them downtown. This ought to be a poster child for success."
P-I reporter Larry Lange can be reached at 206-448-8313 or larrylange@seattlepi.com.