Day 948 of Kingston Held Hostage.

Greetings,

In this issue:

1.    WEB SITE UPDATE
2.    KINGSTON UPDATE
3.    WSF WEEKLY E-MAIL
4.    FOOT FERRY NEWS AND REVIEW
A.    When the Hood Canal Bridge Goes Out, Which Ferry Route Is In?
B.    Bridge transportation survey opens for two-week run
C.    Island Home ferries to replace aging boats for Port Townsend runs
D.    Commuters make up only 37% of ferry riders, poll finds
E.    Surveys Offer a Picture of the Average Ferry Rider
F.    New ferry RSVPs met with traffic backup at toll booth instead
G.    FAST FERRIES: They Deserve Our Support
H.    Memo to our sinking ferries: Think bold!
I.    Letter: PT ferry would be self-serving
J.    Sound Transit aiming to try another vote
K.    READER SOUND-OFF A transportation funding crisis? For who?
L.    Juneau lawmaker pans ferry vetoes
M.    Another new buyer considers foot ferry (Nanaimo)
N.    Don’t take the Sidney-Anacortes ferry for granted
O.    B.C. Ferries directors’ pay raises questions
P.    Liberals blast ferry service (Australia)
Q.    Unions talk to ferry bosses on reform (Australia)
R.    Council tackles City Cat shortfall fears (Australia)
S.    Ferry boat captains set to expand strike (Stockholm)

Welcome new members and e-mail subscribers.  See the end of this message for a summary of what the Kingston Express Association is all about.  To unsubscribe reply to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” at the top of the message.
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1.    WEB SITE UPDATE

The following is new and added to the web site: www.kingstonexpress.org

i.    WSF Survey, brochure and analysis– Hood Canal Bridge Closure Mitigation question – South Point-Lofall foot ferry vs. Kingston-Port Ludlow foot ferry?
ii.    Analysis by Port of Kingston of the two foot ferry options for the Hood Canal bridge closure mitigation.

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2.    KINGSTON UPDATE

The big news is that the Washington Department of Transportation is re-opening the question of foot ferry service as mitigation during the Hood Canal Bridge Closure.  WSDOT is polling people, with a biased survey riddled with dubious and incomplete information, about their preferences for a foot ferry during the closure of the Hood Canal bridge next year.  WSDOT wants a ferry to nowhere option (South Point-Lofall), rather than the far more functional Port Ludlow-Kingston ferry.  The money saved on building temporary docks and such for South Point-Ludlow could go towards expanded foot ferry service around Puget Sound during the bridge closure.  The goal for most people is a Port Townsend-Port Ludlow-Kingston-Seattle foot ferry during the bridge closure.

Take the survey, and read related WSDOT bridge closure propaganda at:
www.hoodcanalbridge.com
The WSDOT survey, plus a much better comparison of route alternatives from the Port of Kingston, is on our web site.

I heard the Port of Kingston had a good meeting with the Hood Canal Bridge closure mitigation project team at the state Department of Transportation.  The Port of Kingston (and Port Angeles and Port Townsend chambers of commerce) is recommending that the project consist of a foot ferry between Port Ludlow and Kingston/Seattle, rather than the Lofall-Southpoint ferries to nowhere WSDOT is planning now for mitigation.  The Port of Kingston is making headway, with a plan to back it up, but the WSDOT bureaucracy, project managers and everyone else with their thumb in the pie is a formidable amount of inertia.  The WSDOT mitigation plan is shaping up as yet another WSDOT fiasco, spending millions on something few will use.

WSDOT has spent over $2 million on just planning the mitigation, over 5 years, and only now are they figuring out that key elements of the plan (like a dock in Port Gamble) are unworkable.  WSDOT says the reason is environmental impact of a dock on Port Gamble bay. But I suspect the main reason is operational.  A dock in Port Gamble would require the foot ferry to traverse two no wake zones (Port Gamble BAy, and near the floating bridge).  Crossing those two areas with no wake would really slow things down.  The ferry would have to speed up, then slow down at the Hood Canal bridge, then speed up, then slow down in Port Gamble.  All that stop and go is difficult on the ferries and engines.

WSDOT has bigger fish to fry on the troubled Hood Canal project, and probably wants everyone to go away and leave them alone to spend the mitigation money the way they want.  WSDOT, Kitsap Transit and other transit agencies and players have their nose in the trough of mitigation money, and they want to run a mitigation project that benefits the agencies, keeps their people busy and chews up the surplus dollars for themselves, rather than a mitigation project that benefits the traveling public.  Kitsap Transit is in line to get a cool $1.7 million for 6 weeks of bus service as part of the mitigation project, much more than needed.  Kitsap Transit is getting so much it could operate almost all the routed buses in the Kitsap Transit system for that time.

I heard from a member of the Kingston ferry advisory committee that the FAC’s executive committee are recommending passenger only ferries during meetings with WSF, but are being rebuffed at every turn by WSF head David Moseley who is stuck in the mode of “the legislature says no foot ferries”.  However, It is not just the legislature.  The Governor signed every bill that effects WSF, and everyone at WSF reports to the Governor.  So WSF is not a passive, helpless player in all this.  WSF should be recommending foot ferries be included in the Governor’s budget that gets delivered to the legislature.

Finally, there was a meeting last week of the Joint Transportation Committee Ferry Policy Group in Edmonds.  The agenda was all about ferry financing.  The agenda is below.  No word on what happened.  But events are leading to a June/July timeframe when the state will develop a first draft plan for ferry financing.  A key agenda item is perhaps “proposed scope of JTC studies”, which to date have been a lot of political fluff without much substance or numbers.  WSF staff presented their alternatives for financing and operations, likely the usual Hobson’s choice of service cuts or fare/tax increases.

Agenda: 1 Revenue Study Update.
2 Ferry Customer Survey Report.
3 Project Plan Review - Interim Schedule.
4 Proposed Scope of JTC Studies.
5 Working Lunch.
6 Ferry Operational & Pricing Strategy Options.

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3.    WSF WEEKLY E-MAIL

The e-mail newsletter from the head of WSF is below.
======================
May 23, 2008
This Week

Port Townsend/Keystone Reservation Program Goes Live
Edmonds Mayor and City Council Briefing
Whidbey Island Community Meetings
Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council Meeting
Ferry Advisory Committee Executive Council Meeting
Labor Management Meeting
Ferry Financing Legislation Update
Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal Safety Improvements
Memorial Day Weekend

My Calendar Next Week
Port Townsend/Keystone Reservation Program Goes Live
The Port Townsend/Keystone Reservation Program went live on Monday, May 19. As of Thursday we had taken 3,533 reservations: 1,652 by phone and 1,881 online. We are still making adjustments to this pilot program including lessening phone wait times, (online reservations have provided some relief), reducing the queues at the ticket booths and improving communication with customers during weather cancellations. To make a reservation or for more information visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.

Edmonds Mayor and City Council Briefing
I continue to meet with representatives and leaders in areas served by ferries. On Tuesday, I traveled to Edmonds with our director of Terminal Engineering John White for briefings with the Edmonds City Council and Mayor Gary Haakenson. We had productive discussions about the status of ferry financing legislated studies and the plans for the Edmonds Ferry Terminal.

Whidbey Island Community Meetings
On Wednesday, I joined Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond in Coupeville for a meeting with the Island County Economic Council to discuss issues related to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). There was a lot of focus on the ferry system including the Port Townsend/Keystone Reservation Program. While on Whidbey Island, I met with Captain Gerral David, Commanding Officer of the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. We talked about the ferry system and the Navy’s concerns about ferry service from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend.
Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council Meeting
I met with the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council (KRCC) on Thursday to introduce myself and my objectives as the new Assistant Secretary for the ferry system. We talked about their involvement in the ferry finance study. They gave valuable feedback on Kitsap Transit’s planning considerations and coordination with the ferry system. After the meeting I met with Cary Bozeman, Bremerton Mayor and KRCC member. We talked about our operations at the ferry system and Bremerton’s interest in passenger-only ferry service.

Ferry Advisory Committee Executive Council
On Tuesday, I met with the Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) Executive Council to prepare for the upcoming public meetings in June. We are close to nailing down the dates, which I hope to publish in next week’s update.
Labor Management Meeting
We are working with our unions on labor issues. On Monday, I joined the WSDOT Human Resources Department for a meeting with our major labor union representatives to discuss our mutual interests. It was a good meeting and I hope to have regularly scheduled labor union meetings moving forward.

Ferry Financing Legislative Update
I look forward to meeting with the Joint Transportation Committee Ferry Policy Group today. We will discuss options for operational and pricing strategies and the upcoming FAC public meetings where these topics will be the main agenda topic.

Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal Safety Improvements
Beginning Wednesday, May 28, changes at the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal will improve safety and efficiency for our customers. WSDOT Ferries Division has constructed a system of new crossings, pathways and signals for pedestrians and bicyclists. For more information visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.

Memorial Day Weekend
We are prepared for the busy holiday weekend. In addition to offering reservations on the Port Townsend/Keystone route we have added extra service and increased staff on key routes. However, travelers should still expect some delays at their ferry docks. For more information visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.

Coming Up Next Week

City of Bainbridge Island City Council Briefing on May 28
Ferry Financing Work Group Meeting on May 28
Mukilteo Terminal Project Meeting with Sound Transit and the Port of Everett
David Moseley’s Weekly Updates are available on the WSF Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/weekly/.

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4.    FOOT FERRY NEWS AND REVIEW

A story from Victoria BC notes tourists from New Jersey, who say they visited partly because of the ferries.  Included are interesting details about the murky Sidney-Anacortes ferry run, wholly subsidized by Washington State taxpayers.  According to the story:
“The Washington system just signed a three-year agreement to use the B.C. Ferries-run Sidney terminal but isn’t happy with the financial terms. Brewer-Rogstad figures they’re paying three times market rate.”
So why are we paying anything at all for using the Sidney dock?  BC should be paying Washington state instead to help run the ferry, not charging exorbitant rates to use their dock.  However, WSF is reported saying the Governor is very committed to keeping the run and it would take a change in state law to stop the run.

The negotiating team at WSDOT and in the Governor’s office should be thrown under a bus.  Its all part of the never ending WSF gravy train we’re all paying for.

The new reservation system is up and running on the PT-Keystone route, and according to the report, riders who used it like it.  However, those who don’t make the reservations face long waits, and many are unaware of the new system.  A report says WSF has decided on an Island Home ferry design for the route after a recent review of alternatives.

Preliminary results from the Washington Transportation push-poll of ferry riders are reported. “Ferry riders have high income” is the story line.  Precisely what the WTC/WSF/WSDOT wanted to hear.  The survey is almost totally worthless.  The WTC survey is simply more grist for certain individuals on the commission to pursue their personal agenda of higher fares and taxes, and sticking it to the WSF ridership.  The WTC shouldn’t even be asking about incomes of ferry riders.  It provides no useful, actionable information.  The WTC doesn’t ask drivers on I-5 or those who cross the mountain passes about their incomes, so why all this interest about the income of ferry riders?

All the talk about commuter ferries vs. tourist ferries makes as much sense as saying I-5 is commuter oriented, or that I-90 is for tourists.  Each ferry route is like a highway, with many different uses, including freight, schools, medical, and the ordinary mobility people need to make life happen.

The survey carefully frames the issues (higher taxes, vs. service cuts) and leaves out any questions about efficiency improvements, cost savings, foot ferries, or anything at all that does not hew to the WTC party line.  The WTC has been a complete disaster in its oversight of WSF and WSDOT and needs to be eliminated completely.  The WTC eliminated their tariff advisory committee, so its only fair for the state government to eliminate the entire WTC.  The WTC is semi-competent, useless, redundant overhead in the state government.  The good news is that the WTC survey baloney is just one of 12 or 15 study elements, reviews, etc. ongoing in the state sausage factory, and it will hopefully be lost in all the ongoing chaos, process and ridiculousness.

The WTC/WSF/WSDOT agenda is that ferry riders are rich and spoiled and need to pay higher fares, or special property taxes on ferry communities like Kingston.  They crafted a deeply flawed “survey”, poorly executed, to support that agenda and get the answers they want.  The survey is a confusing 12 page mess with the hidden payoff question (about personal income) at the end.  The survey by design filters out most of the less literate and less interested people, those who don’t like answering complex multi-level questions on 12 page forms, including questions of personal income.  All that correlates strongly with lower income.  No word either on the participation rate of the survey.  The result is reported incomes are biased upward greatly.  And are further skewed upward by the dynamics of self-reporting (people tend to answer income questions by reporting they have higher incomes then they really do, and lower income people don’t answer at all).  The perils and dynamics of self-reporting sensitive personal information in optional surveys is illustrated by a survey of church membership.  People in a city were surveyed and asked if they were members of a church.  About 65% of the population answered yes.  The surveyors then went to all the churches in town and asked them how many members they had, the total was only about 35% of the population.  Interesting, no?  With surveys, it is easy, real easy, to get the answer you want.  There are lies, damn lies, then statistics, and then there would be Puget Sound transit agency surveys and polls.

Commentary below about foot ferries deserving support, and some fresh thinking about WSF.  A proposal is floated for funding ferries with the visitors tax, and upgrading state ferries with an eye to tourism.  That is a big improvement over the property tax on ferry communities idea preferred by WSDOT and the WTC.  The writer offers the following:
“As the taxes are paid off for stadiums, they are being coveted by Husky Stadium, Seattle Center, cleanup of Puget Sound, low income housing, and arts groups. Shouldn’t the ferry system and all those ferry riders be putting its nose into this trough?”

Also, news about the latest Sound Transit ruminations over another tax increase vote in November.  Snohomish County board members, which would get 1/8th of the funding, say no because there is no light rail to Snohomish county in the latest plan. Reading all about it makes clear that Puget Sound is truly the worst transportation planning mess in North America.

In Alaska, the Governor has vetoed some funding for state ferries, arguing that the needed funds can be from a future supplemental appropriation.

From Honolulu, the Mayor and some on City Council are at odds over funding “TheBoat” foot ferry for another year with $4 million of local funds.  According to the report:
“One of [mayor] Hannemann’s controversial projects includes TheBoat, the commuter ferry system connecting Aloha Tower to Kalaeloa. Several Council members are hesitant to fund TheBoat, a pilot project paid by the federal government through a $5 million grant ending Sept. 30.
“The ridership is too low,” Okino said. “It’s too expensive. I never thought it would work out from the beginning and it’s kind of proving out that way.”

BC Ferries strategy is criticized in an article, including pay for its secretive board of directors where no details are released; no agenda, not even how long they meet.  BC Ferries may be moving forward with a privatization strategy for smaller more remote routes, and removing 500+ workers from union representation.

A story outlines another foot ferry entrepreneur interested in the Nanaimo-Vancouver foot ferry.  It seems they are on the right track, correctly noting that the right vessel is the key ingredient for success.  The report includes:

“… the real problem lies in finding the size and type of vessel with the right speed that can be big enough to handle a large volume of passengers and adverse weather …  B.C. Ferries will be one of the biggest challenges should Shaker get his operation going. “They consider you to be competition and they do what they can to thwart you…  Shaker wants to “under-promise and over-deliver,” … securing good working relationships with the ports and municipalities is another key in unlocking a door that can lead to making the operation a success.

In Sydney, Australia, there are complaints of “cancelled ferry services, run-down wharfs and lack of co-ordination between buses and ferries.”  The new head of Sydney ferries is reported meeting with their maritime unions, with reports of both being more cooperative.  Its interesting how the looming specter of privatization, which threatens both of them, can create a new spirit of collaboration.  Also mentioned is the $400 million fleet replacement strategy, part of the ambitious Sydney Ferries makeover plan, which is entirely foot ferries.
News also of Brisbane planning to expand its foot ferry fleet, including replacing 6 ferries when they are 16 years old.

Finally, reports of turmoil on the Stockholm and Gotheburg waterfront as the Swedish Ships Officers Association prepares to expand its strike action, affecting 23 ferries.

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A.    When the Hood Canal Bridge Goes Out, Which Ferry Route Is In?

Kitsap Sun – May 24, 2008
Derek Sheppard
 
How do you want to get across Hood Canal next summer when the bridge closes for a six-week repair?

It’s a question the state is asking, but it’s not open-ended. Respondents will have two choices — traveling from South Point to Lofall, or from Port Ludlow to Kingston.

The state Department of Transportation will survey people on which passenger-only ferry they support through a variety of means until June 6: by mail, on the Web, over the phone and through handouts and newspaper ads.

The question over how people will cross the canal during the closure has been in flux in recent weeks since the state decided to abandon a plan to install a temporary dock in Port Gamble because of environmental concerns.

In September 2006, when some Kitsap and Jefferson business and civic leaders touted the Port Ludlow-Kingston idea, it was denied.

Now, it’s back on the table.

“Paula Hammond agreed to do that on Monday,” Hood Canal bridge project spokeswoman Becky Hixson said.

Representatives from the Port Townsend and Port Angeles chambers of commerce, the Olympic Peninsula Commission and the Port of Kingston lobbied for the state to reconsider that run.

Kingston Port Commissioner Pete DeBoer called the new administration “refreshing.”

While there are now two choices, the runs would operate in different manners, and the crossings’ frequency and duration would differ.

The South Point-to-Lofall water shuttle plan can transport 600 people an hour, would offer service every 30 minutes and has supporting transit connections to local communities as well as the 1,500-stall park-and-ride lots at Shine Pit and Port Gamble, according to the DOT.

The Port Ludlow-to-Kingston water shuttle plan can transport 450 people an hour, would offer service every 45 minutes and has supporting transit connections to local communities as well as 535 parking spaces at park-and-ride lots at the Port Ludlow Marina and the Ludlow Cove development and 590 parking spaces at the Port of Kingston, Bayside Community Church and George’s Corner.

Construction crews with Poulsbo’s Kiewit-General will work on the bridge in May and June 2009 to replace the east half.

To take the survey or learn more about the project, visit www.hoodcanalbridge.com.

Comments
Posted by k3my84 on May 25, 2008 at 1:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I’m sure whichever takes longest, costs the most and is overall the least efficient will be the pick. Then a few months worth of delays and huge financial over-runs it’ll start.

Posted by BarrioRunner on May 25, 2008 at 4:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I am not sure where South Point to Lofall is actually located. But to have a run from Port Ludlow to Kingston seems way off to me. I am not sure how many people will use these options daily. Are there any actuall surveys to show how many people would travel daily?

Posted by MzMustang on May 26, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Just restore the Lofall ferry. That was the original route before the bridge was built and was used again when the bridge went down in the 70’s. And what’s this about a passengers only ferry? Lofall was always a car ferry. How are people in vehicles supposed to get to Jefferson County? Please someone, tell me what I’m missing.

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B.    Bridge transportation survey opens for two-week run

Peninsula Daily News – May 27, 2008
By Jeff Chew,

PORT TOWNSEND — The state Department of Transportation has launched a public survey in an attempt to settle a dispute over temporary ferry service during the six weeks the Hood Canal Bridge is severed a year from now.

The survey, which can be found on the bridge Internet site, www.hoodcanalbridge.org, runs until June 6, at which time state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and her aides will assess the results and make a final decision, bridge Project Manager Becky Hixson said.

The survey asks North Olympic Peninsula residents to choose between two passenger-ferry options during east-half replacement of the floating bridge in May and June 2009:

A passenger ferry between South Point south of the bridge in East Jefferson County and Lofall on the Kitsap Peninsula, or a ferry transporting passengers from Port Ludlow to Kingston.

The South Point-Lofall ferry option would require motorists to park at a temporary lot at the Shine Quarry off state Highway 104, then take a shuttle bus to the temporary ferry dock at South Point.

On the Lofall side, a shuttle could be taken to the Kingston ferry or other Kitsap County destinations.

Last-ditch effort
The Port Angeles Regional and Port Townsend chambers of commerce last week united in a last-ditch effort to get ferry service between Port Ludlow and Kingston during the closure, in which contractor Kiewit-General will remove and replace the floating bridge’s 47-year-old eastern half.

“We believe this is our last best hope to persuade [the state Department of Transportation] to choose a mitigation plan that we believe will provide passenger-only ferry access between Kitsap and Jefferson/Clallam counties, as well as vehicle ferry access between Port Townsend and Edmonds,” Tim Caldwell, Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce general manager, wrote to chamber members.

Both Caldwell and Russ Veenema, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director, sent separate letters to Hammond this week.

Both chamber executives contend that the Ludlow-Kingston water shuttle would save the state about $4 million in bridge mitigation funds that could go toward alternatives, such as temporary car-ferry service between Port Townsend and Edmonds during the long-planned bridge closure.

The floating bridge is the Peninsula’s main artery across Hood Canal, connecting it with Kitsap County, car-ferry service to the Seattle-area and the highway to Tacoma.

Open to suggestions
Hammond, who spoke to a Port Angeles chamber luncheon audience Monday, told the Peninsula Daily News that afternoon that she’s open to suggestions for temporary ferry service during the bridge work.

Hixson said Transportation was also polling residents by e-mail, phone calls, handouts and newspaper ads.

The South Point-Lofall water shuttle plan would transport up to 600 people an hour, offers service every 30 minutes and has supporting transit connections to local communities.

It would also include 1,500 park-and-ride spaces at a temporary Shine Pit on Fred Hill Materials’ property.

The Port Ludlow-Kingston proposal would transport up to 450 people per hour, offer service every 45 minutes and have supporting transit connections to local communities as well as up to 535 parking spaces at Port Ludlow Marina and 590 spaces at the Port of Kingston’s marina, ferry terminal, Bayside Community Church and George’s Corner.

The proposed Port Ludlow embarkation point is about 5 miles north of the bridge.

Car ferry urged
Caldwell and Veenema — fearing a lost of tourism during the Memorial Day weekend period next year — also strongly suggested in their letters to Hammond that a Port Townsend-Edmonds car ferry should be added while the bridge is out.

Such car-ferry service was set up when the bridge’s western half sank in 1979, severing the bridge for about three years.

“A Port Townsend-Edmonds auto ferry during the May-June 2009 Hood Canal Bridge closure is essential for mitigating the loss of business that will in fact occur,” the Port Townsend chamber’s letter states.

The online survey does not address the Port Townsend-Edmonds car ferry alternative, and Hammond and other Washington State Ferries officials have expressed doubts about a car ferry being available for the two-hour route.

The Hood Canal Bridge averages about 25,000 vehicle trips per day.

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C.    Island Home ferries to replace aging boats for Port Townsend runs

Seattle Times - May 27, 2008
Susan Gilmore

The Island Home, a 60-car ferry that runs between Woods Hole, Mass., and Martha’s Vineyard, can carry up to 1,200 passengers.

WOODS HOLE, Mass. — When engineers with Washington State Ferries visited this Massachusetts town in February to look at its Island Home ferry, winds were blowing at 40 knots and the seas were 8 feet high.

If those conditions existed on the Keystone-Port Townsend ferry run with the temporary boat now being used, the trip would have been canceled, said Ron Wohlfrom, vessel project engineer for Washington ferries.

But the Island Home did operate. Weather has rarely caused it to skip a run.

This ferry, which operates between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard, is the same type of boat the state plans to build to replace the Steel Electric ferries taken out of service in November. The state hopes to have two Island Home boats on the route in 2010.

“The boat is about the same size as the Steel Electrics and has about the same car-carrying capacity,” said Wohlfrom. “With the design already in existence, most of the drawings can be quickly changed and we can get it out for bids quickly.”

The Island Home, which has been operating for about 18 months in Martha’s Vineyard, was designed by Seattle’s Elliott Bay Design. It was the winner among four other ferry types, according to Edward Jackson, a ferry captain who was on the design team with Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority.

The sleek ferry is 255 feet long and can carry 60 cars, and up to as many as 76 with an added lift. It can handle 1,200 passengers and travels at about 16 knots. It takes 45 minutes for the 3-½-mile crossing. The Port Townsend-Keystone crossing is about five miles, and state officials say its Island Home boat will carry only about 650 passengers.

Rave reviews

On the Island Home, there are three sun decks, a quiet area for studying and free Wi-Fi — something Washington State Ferries doesn’t have. [Washington ferries charge for the service.]

“It’s tremendous,” said Rick Labrecque, an Edgartown banker who rides the ferry every day. He reads and works on his computer during the 45-minute crossing. “The boat hardly lists at all.” He said at $7 for a one-way walk-on ticket — and less for his multiday pass — it’s also fairly inexpensive.

“The ferry is one of the best,” said Keith Dodson, who has been commuting on it for a year. “It really handles the rough water and it has a huge media center with free Wi-Fi.”

Wohlfrom said Washington state’s new ferry will be very similar to the Island Home. There will be outdoor seating, though not as much as on the Nantucket ferry.

And unlike the state’s other ferries, the new ones will have two 6-foot-high doors on rollers at each end, which help keep water off the deck in rough crossings. The Nantucket ferry has a full-sized door that closes off the ends of the ferry, and Jeff Brown, port engineer with the Nantucket ferry authority, said it saves a lot of cars from being damaged by saltwater. He said that without the doors, one-quarter of all trips would be canceled.

In 18 months, maybe one trip has been aborted, Brown said.

The boat’s snack bar was designed after those on Washington State Ferries, he said.

“It’s a very quiet boat,” said Wohlfrom. “There’s not a lot of vibration and it has a very smooth operation.”

Money budgeted

He said the state was surprised to learn the Island Home has the same engines as the state has already purchased for the yet-to-be-built 144-car ferries.

The Legislature this year appropriated $84.5 million to replace the 80-year-old Steel Electric Class vessels that were pulled out of service because of damaged hulls.

The state initially planned to build one boat identical to the Steilacoom II, which has been leased by Pierce County to the state for the Port Townsend run. But when bids for that boat came in $9 million over the estimate, the state decided to abandon that effort and instead build just two Island Home boats.

The Nantucket Island Home boat was built in Mississippi for $33 million.

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D.    Commuters make up only 37% of ferry riders, poll finds

Seattle P-I – May 25, 2008
Chris McGann

OLYMPIA — For whatever preconceived ideas policymakers might have about trends and tendencies among state ferry riders, there’s nothing like a survey of 26,000 riders to iron out misconceptions.

Last week the Washington Transportation Commission heard the preliminary results from an extensive survey and got one big surprise — frequent riders make up only about one-third of the ridership.

In previous public hearings and forums, frequent riders had been portrayed as the “backbone” of the system. The notion had become cultivated perhaps because commuters have likewise been the most frequent forum attendees.

But in fact, 35 percent of those surveyed said they took fewer than seven trips per month. Thirty percent rode more than seven times but fewer than 25 times per month.

Thirty-seven percent of trips are by commuters going to work or school, but the vast majority of the trips come from people traveling for reasons including medical appointments, social occasions or special events.

“You might want to say the backbone of the system is all these other people,” said Rebecca Elmore-Yalch of Opinion Research Northwest, which conducted the survey.

“What we are finding out, slide after slide here, is that what people thought was different than the facts,” said Commissioner Bob Distler.

“We’re all surprised,” said Reema Griffith, Transportation Commission executive director.

“Most of the time we are hearing through our focus groups anecdotally that commuters really see themselves as this ‘backbone,’ everybody keeps referring to that. So when they have that perception they feel they are entitled to discounts — there’s all these perks.”

Frequent ferry riders can purchase passes at rates 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper than riders who purchase individual tickets.

That runs counter to the way fares are set in other modes, Distler said.

The discounts for commuters on Washington ferries could present a revenue for the system, though Distler said more analysis would be necessary.

“The problem we have is that on those runs that are fullest, where there is the need for additional service and additional ferries at larger terminals, the average fare paid by each of the users is lower than the systemwide average,” Distler said.

“So what we are seeing is, as we pour more and more people into the heaviest runs, the extra people that get added on are people paying lower fares.”

But eliminating frequent user discounts would be politically unrealistic.

“It would mean that the people who travel the most often would be the ones impacted on that and they will push back with their legislators as would be expected and as they should,” Distler said.

The polling firm is now charged with doing extensive follow-up interviews with 2,300 of those polled to look into issues including pricing strategies.

“We will really start looking into pricing approaches,” Griffith said. “(It will explore) Operational strategies through reservation systems, a hot-lane approach on a ferry. Would people do this? … And then we are also going to look at load shift — does it take some kinds of incentives to get people to switch from driving to walking because there is tons of walk-on space.”

Other survey findings revealed that ferry riders are affluent, with a median household income of $81,242 compared with $52,583 statewide. Seattle-to-Bainbridge riders are the most affluent, with a median household income of $95,889.

The board suggested that the information would have little impact on the rates.

On average ferry customers have been riding the ferries for 12 years — and therefore are unlikely to modify their behavior.

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E.    Surveys Offer a Picture of the Average Ferry Rider

Kitsap Sun - May 21, 2008
Ed Friedrich

The average ferry rider is older and wealthier than the average Washingtonian, works full time and has been riding for 12 years.

Ridership is evenly split between men and women and, contrary to popular belief, the majority are not headed to or from work.

Those are the preliminary findings of a customer survey conducted in March for the Washington State Transportation Commission by consultant Opinion Research Northwest. They were presented to the commission Wednesday at
Department of Transportation headquarters. Another wave of surveys will be performed in July.

The results will be compiled and used to develop a profile of Washington State Ferries customers and to test their attitudes about changing fare policies and operations. The state Legislature will use the information next winter when it tries to devise a long-range, sustainable funding plan for the ferries.

The survey was taken by 5,510 riders throughout the system, proportional to the percentage of riders each route carries. It found that the average rider is 52 years old. Fifty-four percent are between the ages of 45 and 64. Only 5 percent are younger than 25.

Seventy-nine percent are employed, 63 percent full-time.

The median household income of riders is $81,242, if what people wrote down was true. That compares with a median income of $52,583 for state residents.

Bainbridge-Seattle riders are the most affluent with a median income of $95,880 per household; Bremerton-Seattle riders are the poorest with a median income of $68,460. The Kitsap County median household income is $67,000, the company said.

Only 35 percent of riders said they take at least 25 one-way trips per month, and only 37 percent said they were going to or from work or school.

The state is exploring pricing strategies, such as peak pricing and nonpeak discounts, to cut peak usage and stretch the time until they have to build new boats and terminals. But 56 percent of riders said they are already traveling during off-peak times. That includes drivers and passengers, however, and except in Bainbridge, the capacity problem only concerns vehicles. Only 4 percent of the 44 percent of riders traveling during peak times said they could shift to nonpeak times.

Comments
Posted by rexnelson on May 21, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The question is whether or not this was handled better then the procurement of new boats, inspection of hulls, etc. Did they survey enough people at various times and locations to provide an acurate representation? Not sure? See if you can recall anyone who was actually surveyed.

Posted by Bob_Meadows on May 21, 2008 at 10:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I didn’t find a copy of the survey results online, but here is where the Transportation Commission describes the survey project:
http://wstc.wa.gov/FerryCustomerSurve…

I wonder if roughly half the riders are going somewhere other than to or from work even at the rush hour. I read once that at all times of the day, including rush hours, approximately half the vehicles on the highways are going somewhere other than to or from work. Maybe it’s true of the ferries, too; but it is hard to believe.

This part of the article seems to say that only a small portion of the riders during the rush hours are non-commuters, but I would like to see the survey results to see if that’s what is indicated:

“…and only 37 percent said they were going to or from work or school.

“The state is exploring pricing strategies, such as peak pricing and nonpeak discounts, to cut peak usage and stretch the time until they have to build new boats and terminals. But 56 percent of riders said they are already traveling during off-peak times. That includes drivers and passengers, however, and except in Bainbridge, the capacity problem only concerns vehicles. Only 4 percent of the 44 percent of riders traveling during peak times said they could shift to nonpeak times.”

Posted by trry4 on May 22, 2008 at 12:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Not many commuters took this survey because they did not approach people wearing headphones and alot of commuters sleep. I find it hard to believe that 63% of the same people I see on the ferry almost everyday are not going to or coming from work. This has the stink of rationalizing fare increases all over it.

Posted by nkroadcaptain on May 22, 2008 at 6:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The survey results are rather anti-climatic when I recall the surveyors seemed to be asking people who were more receptive to conversation (i.e., not in a hurry, on a road trip, etc.) rather than the commuters on the boats everyday.

While our vanpool received numerous surveys, only one of us had the time at work to fill it out.

Posted by lizziemac on May 22, 2008 at 6:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

They offered us the survey on the way home from work. I find it hard to believe that only 37% of the riders are commuting to work. The boat I ride is FULL in the morning with people commuting to work. And at work I know lots of people that commute from the penninsula to Seattle for our jobs. But they were very nice, altho the survey was very long and at times confusing.

Posted by teresagreene on May 22, 2008 at 6:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I find it hard to believe most people are not traveling to work? Everyone on the ferry I take are traveling to and from work, we see each other in the morning and in the evening. I suppose if you are surveying people not in peak hours they are not traveling to and from work but peak hours…..

Posted by ceakins on May 22, 2008 at 7:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Huh? Most the people on the boat I ride in the morning with are going to work. And new peak rates? I can’t change my schedule, I’m already getting allowances from work, to work around ferry schedule.

Posted by fdofelm on May 22, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This survey is wrong it has been manipulated to make it look like the wealthy are the only ones to ride the boats. It is another ploy by the transportation dept. to to raise fares on the working class. This is how the leftys work demonize the wealthy and stick it to the hard working people.

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F.    New ferry RSVPs met with traffic backup at toll booth instead

Peninsula Daily News – May 21, 2008
Jeff Chew

Jeremy Bartlett of Oak Harbor, shown with his great Dane, Maximas, made prior phone reservations for boarding the Steilacoom II to Whidbey Island on Monday. He called the reservation system efficient and convenient. — Photo by Jeff Chew/Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — There’s a new ferry reservation system in town, but many don’t know about it — resulting in traffic backups on Water Street to the overtaxed toll booth.

Most who showed up at the Port Townsend ferry landing Monday had not made prior phone reservations for the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry route and had to rely on state ferries toll booth sellers, officials said.

“The key will be to make sure people know about the reservation system before they show up at the terminal,” Hadley Greene, Washington State Ferries communications manager, said during launch day of the route’s new summer ferry reservation system.

The situation, which delayed the 12:45 p.m. run by 15 minutes, was complicated by backups on the phone reservation system.

That led ferries officials on Monday to launch the online reservation system two days earlier than planned.

“We’d like to encourage people to make reservations on the Web as much as possible, since some people have been experiencing long wait times for phone reservations,” Greene said.

Orange button
There is an orange button on the Washington State Ferries home page, www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries, that links to the reservations tool.

Through Sunday, the six phone reservation staffers took 866 reservations, Greene reported.

While some who did not make reservations beforehand sat in the stand-by lanes, a few found that the reservations system worked.

Oak Harbor resident Jeremy Bartlett waited for the 50-car Steilacoom II with his dogs in the back of his pickup truck, after driving up from a family visit in Port Orchard.

He made his reservation by phone on Friday.

“I printed out my ticket. It wasn’t difficult to do at all,” he said.

Sequim resident Norrie Johnson, who waited in the heavy-vehicle wait lane with his wife, Barb, said he had forgotten to reserve a space on the Steilacoom II.

“I’ll probably take a nap,” he said, expecting to wait about an hour longer for the lone ferry on the Admiralty Inlet route.

His heavy-duty truck was pulling a 22-foot trailer north to Whidbey Island.

System expanded?
Jane Jennings of Friday Harbor said after seeing the Port Townsend reservation system — she got her reservation at the terminal — she believed the San Juan Island-Anacortes run should also have a reservation system.

“It’s nice for people who travel,” said Jennings, who works at a hotel on San Juan Island.

Leonard Smith, the ferry system’s reservation project manager, supervised the system launch Monday at the ferry dock.

“I don’t think we’re seeing any no-shows,” he said of those who made reservations.

Smith said he recognized that the word was still not out on the reservation system, but he believed in time that would change.

Seeing cars backed up to by about 20 cars before the 12:45 sailing on Monday, Smith said he checked and found only one of the cars had a traveler with a prior reservation.

The Port Townsend-Keystone reservation system is modeled after the Anacortes-Sydney, British Columbia, route.

The Port Townsend reservation system runs through Sept. 15 and allows riders to reserve space on the Steilacoom II from 30 days in advance to two hours before sailing.

The Steilacoom II replaces two summer-season Steel Electric ferries that were used last year until Nov. 20, when state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond pulled all four of the 80-year-old ferries from the route when a corroded and pitted hull was discovered.

Sims Way relief
The pilot reservations system is an attempt to address the route’s increased ridership needs this summer without causing long traffic backups on Sims Way, the main artery into Port Townsend.

The new system requires motorcycle riders to make reservations, which is a major change, and larger vehicles of 6,000 pounds or more, such as Humvees, must specifically call state ferries to reserve a spot on the boat.

The vehicle gross weight limit on the Steilacoom II is 80,000 pounds.

The system will take into account low-tide cancellations and cancellations most often caused by strong westerly winds that whip up rough waters that the Steilacoom II cannot safely ply.

The Port Townsend ferry dock holds about 90 vehicles.

How to make a reservation
You can make reservations from 30 days in advance up to two hours before your sailing at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries, or call 888-808-7977 (toll free), 206-464-6400 or 5-1-1 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily.

There is an orange button on the Washington State Ferries Internet home page, www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries, that links to the reservations tool.

You can call for free from any pay phone, including those located near the Port Townsend and Keystone terminals.

Make a reservation with state ferries staff at the Port Townsend or Keystone terminals.

Ask the ticket seller for a list participating businesses which will assist you in making a reservation.

Once you make a reservation, you will be given a confirmation number that you must bring with you to the terminal along with photo identification, such as a driver’s license.

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G.    FAST FERRIES: They Deserve Our Support

Kitsap Sun – May 20, 2008
Letter to the Editor

Fast foot-ferries deserve our support. Ferry service is best viewed as a public form of transportation that uses water highways rather than surface streets or rail lines.

Buses, light rail and trains are an efficient and ecological way of moving people just as passenger only ferries have proven. Public transportation systems require financial support from the communities they serve, otherwise they could not exist.

Would the majority of our citizens recommend discontinuing buses, etc. because they may not use them? Think of how congested our roads would become, our commerce would suffer or the isolation some might experience.

It might help non-ferry-users to consider the larger picture and public good. I may not use our county parks, libraries or public schools, but that does not mean they don’t deserve my support.

Glenn Hodge
BREMERTON

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H.    Memo to our sinking ferries: Think bold!

Crosscut.com – May 20, 2008
David Brewster

Over the weekend, The Seattle Times published a good overview of what ails our ferry system. Tim Eyman, by cutting the motor-vehicle tax, launched the first torpedo. Out of money, the ferry captains deferred maintenance and jacked up fares, sending usage downward.

The message seems to be: retrenchment. Maybe the opposite course makes more sense?

Instead of thinking of Puget Sound ferries as a plain-vanilla extension of our highways, what if we thought of them as a powerful draw for tourism, an amenity for the locals, and a great place to hold meetings and parties? Not floating busses but tiny cruise ships? In turn, this way of thinking about the boats might steer us to a new source of funding: visitor taxes.

The boats and terminals are drab and utilitarian, even if the views and the bracing marine air are splendid. In fact, we have the finest and biggest ferry system in the country (excepting Alaska, a special case). Probably many of us have had the experience of riding on ferries in European countries, particularly Scandinavia, where the food is delicious, there’s a nice bar or two, some street musicians are playing, and you can book some better seats, as on a train. It can’t be that hard to add such features here, and the new revenues would probably cover the costs.

And what about some private meeting rooms? These could be reserved for private parties or for business meetings and retreats that might last a round trip or two, or be developed shoreside at the terminals.

The most intriguing aspect of this long-proposed approach is that the ferry system could establish a legitimate funding claim on visitor taxes all up and down the Sound. These taxes on hotel rooms, rental cars, restaurant meals and the like are normally directed to sports stadiums and convention centers, most of which are already built. As the taxes are paid off for stadiums, they are being coveted by Husky Stadium, Seattle Center, cleanup of Puget Sound, low income housing, and arts groups. Shouldn’t the ferry system and all those ferry riders be putting its nose into this trough?

David Brewster is Crosscut’s publisher.

Comments
Highway robbery
Report a violationPosted by: Piper Scott on May 19, 2008 8:02 PM
The Washington State Ferry System isn’t a part of any tourism agency; it’s part of the Department of Transportation with its routes actually given state highway designations.

It was never intended to be a mini-ocean voyage with luxury accomodations just off the lido deck. Flinty old Captain Alexander Peabody, the hard-headed owner of the Black Ball Line that that state jacked into selling it the line, was in the business of moving people and vehicles, and that’s been the mission of the ferry system ever since.

Plans for Taj Mahalish terminals were on the drawing boards, but have since been scrapped - boats that are seaworthy and not subject to getting their tickets yanked by the Coast Guard because they’re unsafe at any speed is way more important.

This tacky state of affairs isn’t Tim Eyman’s fault, though his status as convenient whipping boy once again goes unchallenged. Money, time, and human resources have been wasted for a long time without necessary legislative oversight.

Boats that were safe yesterday, but death traps today; planned replacement vessals that are too large; grandiouse schemes for luxury terminals all in the face of declining patronage (per The Times article, down 11% since 2000 due to sharp fare increases) are problems that won’t be solved by making another Seattle-area institution something tailor-made for the well healed and affluent.

Remember, this is a highway system we’re talking about - I don’t see anyone suggesting lidding a new 520 bridge with meeting rooms and a dance floor. It’s important to keep in mind why the state got into the ferry business in the first place and what happens when it takes its governmental eye off the people’s ball.

The Piper
Reply  Post a new comment More money is not the problem
Report a violationPosted by: richardinseattle on May 20, 2008 8:56 AM
The challenge with WSDOT as is often the case with state government has been incompetence — witness as one of many examples the $90 million and counting wasted on trying to site a graving dock on the Olympic Peninsula, when perfectly useful graving docks were available in the Seattle-Tacoma area. WSDOT whined, “How could we have known there was an Indian burial ground there?” How? By actually doing some real investigative work BEFORE blundering ahead blindly. Turning over a few teaspoonfuls of earth doesn’t pass that test. But even more to the heart of the issue, by rejecting from the outset a ham-handed political deal to use transportation dollars to create an economic development project — one that would compete with existing private businesses — in a key legislator’s district.

Piper is right — blaming Tim Eyman, even though he is a garish self-promoter who cares more about lining his pockets than anything else — is foolish. Olympia refuses to look at reality. The state budget is built on a house of cards. Our “leaders” throw our money around as if it were theirs. Some adult supervision is sorely needed.

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I.    Letter: PT ferry would be self-serving

Port Townsend-Jefferson County Leader – May 21, 2008

I read in the paper that the PT Chamber of Commerce has $100,000 for another deficit-plagued ferry between PT and Seattle. Who will pay the difference between the wishful $9,000 weekly ticket-sales estimate and the $27,000 weekly operating cost after four weeks? The taxpayers? That’s subsidy to PT business we don’t need. Then I read that Ms. Sandoval is looking at buying a ferry for the city if the state doesn’t play ball. (Sounds like major-league sports. Next step: Threaten to move PT to Oklahoma.)

The chamber also wishes to muck up the South Point-to-Lofall run by having it rerouted with PT as a terminus. Are these ideas designed to serve Jefferson and Clallam counties’ populations? No, these are designed to benefit PT businesses. The WSDOT plan realistically addresses the travel between Poulsbo, Silverdale, Bremerton and the peninsula; a PT-to-Edmonds or Port Ludlow-to-Kingston ferry does not.

PT merchants should consider serving this county’s needs first before spending money hoping for tourist dollars. “Buy local” only works if there is something to buy.

My suggestion is that the chamber spend its money developing and encouraging a retail middle ground that supports the county. Then we might come to PT more often. Until then, there’s the web and UPS.

DAVIS STEELQUIST
Quilcene

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J.    Sound Transit aiming to try another vote

Everett Herald – May 23, 2008
Jeff Switzer

After failing at the ballot box last year, Sound Transit is aiming for a return trip to voters as soon as November with a slimmed-down pitch for mass transit projects.

Up to $10.3 billion in bus, train and light rail projects in the Puget Sound area would be built during 12 years under the proposal.

That’s smaller than the $18 billion in projects proposed to be built over 20 years that failed as part of last year’s Proposition 1 “roads and transit” measure.

Snohomish County leaders already have lined up against the new idea, in part because it would add decades to any hope of light rail service in this county. Under Proposition 1, light rail would have been built to north Lynnwood by 2027.

Instead, regional bus service and new transit hubs in Edmonds and Mukilteo would be paid for under the latest tax plan.

The only strides toward building light rail in Snohomish County would include design work and a pot of money for opportunistic land purchases along a rail route to be mapped later.

That’s practically going back to the drawing board — and not a good enough long-term plan for Snohomish County commuters, said Deanna Dawson, a member of the Edmonds City Council, the Community Transit Board and Sound Transit.

“We think it doesn’t make sense to rush back to the ballot with something that’s not completely cooked,” Dawson said.

At an informational meeting Thursday, Ben Vaughan, a bus rider who lives in Lynnwood, said this is the right year for voters to approve a transit package, adding it just has to be sold right. He was one of about 20 people at the meeting in Lynnwood.

“Whatever gets me my rail system soonest,” he said. “I don’t want to be 50 riding that train.”

The Sound Transit Board is scheduled to decide in July whether and when to go to voters.

Conceptually, taxpayers would shell out either 4 cents or 5 cents on a $10 purchase to pay for the improvements. The taxes would be collected in the Sound Transit district, which includes the cities and urban parts of Snohomish County.

Including inflation, the money would pay for $9 billion in projects at the lower tax rate and $10.3 billion in projects at the higher rate.

The money also would raise about $1 billion for 12 years of operations and maintenance.

Snohomish County would receive about one-eighth of the money.

For King County, the plan raises enough money to add light rail to the system already under construction.

Not so in Snohomish County, hence the opposition.

“We can’t raise sufficient revenues to get light rail in 12 years,” Dawson said.

“Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood have expressed strongly that they feel any solution that doesn’t bring light rail to Snohomish County is not feasible and probably dead on arrival if we go out (to the ballot) in 2008,” Dawson said.

Officials said they would rather wait until 2010 and have a better proposal that would raise enough money for light rail work here.

Dawson criticized Sound Transit’s plan for Bus Rapid Transit in Snohomish County, saying that putting more buses on clogged carpool lanes on I-5 doesn’t help commuters.

The Sound Transit board hasn’t completely ruled out asking voters to reconsider the larger 20-year tax plan proposed last year, which would have built $18 billion in projects, including inflation.

Research and feedback after the failed ballot measure showed people felt the measure was too big, “and didn’t like voting on roads and transit as a single combined measure,” Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick said.

Nobody is rushing back to the ballot with a measure to raise taxes to build more roads. Snohomish, King and Pierce counties had the option of forming countywide taxing districts by Thursday, but declined.

Instead, cities now can team up and ask voters for higher car tabs, but so far there’s only polite interest without any hurry, Snohomish County Public Works director Steve Thomsen said.

High gas prices and increased transit service are drawing more commuters to buses and trains.

“We need to realize $4- to $5-a-gallon gas may be here to stay,” said Everett City Councilman Paul Roberts, a Sound Transit Board member. “The reality is, between fuel shortages, peak fuel and greenhouse gases, we have to rethink how we move people, how we get too and from work.”

What’s on the table for public review doesn’t show a complete Sound Transit regional plan and doesn’t tell the public how much it costs, Roberts said.

A better plan would have better cost estimates and better plans for coordinating Snoho­mish County transit agencies.

He said he voted against releasing this latest proposal for public review, let alone to the ballot.

“We need to go to the ballot with a whole system,” Roberts said. “We cannot afford another failure at the ballot.”

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K.    READER SOUND-OFF A transportation funding crisis? For who?

PNW News -May 21, 2008

Another government agency is in a “crisis” over funding. Kitsap Transit has money problems. The increased fuel costs that we must live with are more than the bus/ferry/rental car service can stand. Before we panic, let’s play “Connect The Dots.”

Our 100,000-person workforce makes two commute trips each day. In a 252-day work year that is about 50 million trips. Transit figures indicate commute ridership of about 3.8 million a year. About 7 percent of the work force uses transit while 93 percent of the commuters are still in their cars. That does not include all the bus riders who drive to and from home and the “Park and Ride” lot.

Average cost for each bus “rider” is about $4.70 while the fare is $1.25. That’s a $3.45 deficit for each ride or $6.90 daily ($1,738 a year) for each commuter. The shortfall is covered by dedicated sales tax with each person in the county “contributing” about $55 a year. Taxing non-users to bear the major part of the cost does not seem appropriate. What ever happened to American self-reliance?

Transit service is not close to meeting the planning levels that call for 50 percent use in the near future and virtual elimination of single occupancy vehicles by 2040. With the 50 percent requirement, all would be paying increased fares and an additional $210 per person per year to subsidize ridership.

How about actual effectiveness of bus service? Looking at a few commuter bus routes reveals average ridership below what should be expected from this “vital” service. Route 92 with 17,511 annual riders has an average bus load of three riders. Route 85 averages seven riders per trip and Route 19 averages 13 riders per trip. Perhaps the low ridership on so many runs explains the public perception of “empty” busses.

Kitsap Transit is considering some “corrective actions.” Transit is “considering” a “major” fare increase to $1.50. That reduces the deficit to $6.40 each day for each rider, made up by tax subsidy. Transit plans to cut some low-use service and even curtail some ACCESS service. (One commissioner, however, made a campaign promise to preserve ACCESS service). Transit made no mention of curtailing the SCOOT car rental program, also subsidized by tax dollars, or to stop spending tax dollars on “fast ferry” studies. Reality is that Kitsap Transit will continue subsidizing ridership costs at about the 83 percent level without correcting any of its bad habits.

If “We the people” are going to bear the brunt of Transit operating costs, perhaps we should “connect the dots” and give our Board of Directors (they represent us as shareholders) some guidance. I could support these changes:

• Increase fares so that riders pay at least 75 percent of the cost to operate and maintain the system. Vary fares by route.

• Eliminate service that is not efficient or which could be more effectively served by private enterprise (taxi, etc). Demonstrate leadership in getting single occupancy vehicles off our streets; start with SOV busses.

• Cancel the SCOOT program and allow private enterprise to provide the service.

• Cancel efforts to develop fast ferry service. Let the private sector make it a reality. Stop creating more advantageous ways for our work force to leave the county for good paying jobs and spend more effort bringing those jobs to Kitsap.

• Stop planning mass transit as the answer for individual travel throughout Kitsap. The people clearly do not desire such service and our population spread cannot be supported by bus service.

• Limit subsidized ACCESS to basic health and welfare service for handicapped people and seniors. Additional service might be provided at or near cost and limited to those who actually need that level of door-to-door service.

Perhaps if Kitsap Transit operated more like a business and less like an entitlement program for the few, the funding issues could more easily be resolved.

JACK HAMILTON
Silverdale

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L.    Juneau lawmaker pans ferry vetoes

Doll: She fears for the system; Palin’s budget chief defends cuts.

Anchorage Daily News – May 27, 2008

JUNEAU — Gov. Sarah Palin’s veto of $30 million for state ferries has raised objections from a Juneau lawmaker.

The vetoes cut money from the vessel replacement fund and a contingency fund.

“That means the ferry is back to living on bare bones — rubber bands and masking tape,” instead of getting ahead of maintenance problems, said Rep. Andrea Doll, D-Juneau.

Palin vetoed $15 million from a plan to put $25 million in a stabilization fund to help the ferry system operate and deal with unforeseen costs, including higher fuel prices.

Palin also vetoed $15 million from a $75 million appropriation to a vessel replacement fund.

Palin’s staff cited a recommendation from the Marine Transportation Advisory Board as justification for one cut.

Office of Management and Budget Director Karen Rehfeld said the state already acknowledged that ferries were facing dramatically higher fuel costs this year but that they could be dealt with later in a supplemental budget.

Rehfeld cited a board request of $60 million to the replacement fund as justification for the second veto and said an additional appropriation would be needed to build a new vessel anyway.

“The Legislature did put in $75 million; we did reduce it down to the $60 million requested by MTAB,” she said.

Doll said not putting money into the ferry system when the state can afford to do so was troubling.

“Our governor makes it very clear she doesn’t want to put any money in the (Juneau access) road, and then she takes away from the (ferry) stabilization fund,” she said.

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M.    Another new buyer considers foot ferry (Nanaimo)

Past attempts to develop service were done the ‘wrong way,’ says businessman

Nanaimo Daily News - May 26, 2008
Paul Walton,
A new company is looking to start another downtown passenger-only ferry service between Nanaimo and Vancouver.

Capt. Ihab Shaker, who ran a high-speed service on Lake Ontario between Toronto and St. Catherines about 10 years ago, and is initiating a service between Gibsons and Vancouver this year, said he wants to start the Nanaimo-Vancouver run in about two years.

Nanaimo’s former foot ferry has been idle due to financial troubles for more than two years.
Photograph by : Daily News file

“Nanaimo is where the real money is,” said Shaker.

He has worked with Ed Life, who tried to establish the Sealink service after the HarbourLynx service failed.

“I’m very well aware of all the past experiments,” said Shaker.

He said that the HarbourLynx and Sealink were good operations, but missing details he thinks were essential for success.

“All these attempts were good attempts,” he said, “but they were doing it the wrong way.”

Shaker knows the real problem lies in finding the size and type of vessel with the right speed that can be big enough to handle a large volume of passengers and adverse weather. But Shaker won’t say what type of vessel he has in mind. “I’d rather not say that in public,” he said. “The key is the right vessel, and I have the design.”

He said his experience with the Gibsons to Vancouver run, building a vessel on time on budget, indicates he can also deliver for a route between Nanaimo and Vancouver.

Shaker said he has had no discussions with B.C. Ferries under its Alternative Service Delivery plans.

“This is a private venture, and it’s going to stay private,” he said.

Bill McKay, one of the principals in the HarbourLynx venture, said B.C. Ferries will be one of the biggest challenges should Shaker get his operation going.

“They consider you to be competition and they do what they can to thwart you,” said McKay.

Shaker said being economical is the best way for the service to remain feasible, and said he plans a $24 one-way ticket.

“I want to fill my boats up, it has to be competitive price-wise,” he said.

But McKay said that $24 sounds high.

“The trigger point for this market would be closer to $19.95, with connections to mass transit on the other side,” said McKay.

“I’m concerned that he will go too small.”

Shaker also knows that the startup for Nanaimo will be more costly than the Gibsons to Vancouver route. He has financed that project himself with cash.

“The plan is when Gibson succeeds I can raise some capital,” he said.

Though Shaker wants to “under-promise and over-deliver,” McKay said that a focus on increasing the business will be as important as having the right vessel.

He thinks Shaker will need an aggressive promotional program, with the budget to match, to quickly increase the customer base.

“You would need do double the numbers HarbourLynx did, and do it very quickly,” said McKay.

Shaker said he’s not yet initiated talks with the Port of Nanaimo, and McKay said securing good working relationships with the ports and municipalities is another key in unlocking a door that can lead to making the operation a success.

“I really believe there’s demand in the market place,” said McKay.

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N.    Don’t take the Sidney-Anacortes ferry for granted

Victoria Times Colonist - May 24, 2008
Jack Knox,

Len and Robyn Albright came here all the way from New Jersey, where they’re neighbours with NHL ref Kerry Fraser. (Nice guy. Works like a dog on his yard. Hair helmet never moves.)

The Albrights followed the usual trail of Victoria tourist attractions: Butchart Gardens, tea at the Empress, the Sidney-Anacortes ferry … Say what?

“One of the things that drew us here was the ferries,” said Robyn, waiting in the Sidney terminal. “We all love to ride ferries.”

The MV Chelan heads for the B.C. Ferries terminal in Sidney this week. The Sidney-Anacortes route has had big ridership losses.
Darren Stone, Times Colonist

As she speaks, the 124-car MV Chelan hoves into view. Not the most impressive of vessels, rust showing through the white-on-green livery of the Washington State Ferries. Kind of a metaphor for the ferry system itself.

If you think B.C.’s ferry service has had a rough go, check out the troubles south of the line. A government-ordered review of the cash-strapped, aging Washington fleet has some people wondering if the Anacortes route will survive. In March, the San Juan Islander newspaper quoted the Washington system’s new president as saying he was prepared to make a “hard choice” about the future of the run.

Not to worry, says Traci Brewer-Rogstad, Washington State Ferries’ deputy executive director. There’s no sign that Washington state has lost the political will to keep the boat afloat.

Still, as we enter the U.S. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial launch of the tourist season, it’s worth remembering that we

shouldn’t take our U.S. links — particularly this one, which dates to the 1920s — for granted. It took a concerted effort to save the Sidney-Anacortes route a decade ago.

The B.C. and Washington systems are remarkably alike. Both are among the largest ferry services in the world. Both were forced to jack up fares after unexpectedly losing government funding a few years ago. Both lost ridership in consequence. Both, like the penniless driver who couldn’t afford to buy a new car, are now paying the price of waiting too long to replace aging ships.

B.C. is ahead of the curve in that regard, with half a dozen new vessels either in the water or in the pipeline. Washington, by contrast, is running short after four 80-year-old ships were unceremoniously yanked from service late last year. It has government funding for six new ferries, but the first isn’t expected until next year.

The strain is showing: Reduced service from Whidbey Island has tourism-dependent Port Townsend fretting this summer.

The Washington system sailed into red ink in 1999 after voters repealed a state automobile tax that provided the system with 22 per cent of its operating funds and most of its capital. That led to fare increases averaging 67 per cent over the past seven or eight years, resulting in a drop in ridership.

The Sidney-Anacortes ferry has recorded the steepest decline of any route, losing 16 per cent of its ridership between 2000 and 2007, according to a Sunday story in the Seattle Times. Last year, just 130,600 took the crossing. Post-9-11 security, a strong Canadian dollar and confusing on-again, off-again U.S. passport requirements all were a factor in the drop, as was the 2003 decision to halt service for three months each winter. It now runs once a day in the spring, twice in the summer.

Faced with what the Times reported as a $1-billion budget shortfall over 16 years, the ferry system was ordered by Washington’s government to do a two-year study of how to get the most bang for its buck. The results, which could mean reduced service, are expected early next year.

“I don’t see that affecting Sidney-Anacortes,” Brewer-Rogstad says. It would take an act of the state legislature to scuttle the run, and that’s not the way the political wind is blowing. “The governor is very supportive of keeping the border open.”

(Unlike the B.C. government, Washington state appears willing to keep subsidizing ferry passengers from Vancouver Island.)

But while the horizon might not appear particularly threatening today, those who value the service should worry about where it will be two, three, 10 years from now, says Ian Munce, the city of Anacortes’ planning director.

“The current state of affairs between Washington State Ferries and B.C. Ferries doesn’t help us,” Munce adds. The Washington system just signed a three-year agreement to use the B.C. Ferries-run Sidney terminal but isn’t happy with the financial terms. Brewer-Rogstad figures they’re paying three times market rate. You get the feeling this brush fire will flare up again.

In the meantime, the MV Chelan keeps chugging back and forth. It’s a spartan service, basically a floating bus with a snack bar and duty-free shop. But it does the job, at a price of $53.70 for car and driver, including a reservation fee that is included in the ticket cost. It’s a three-hour trip, with stops in Orcas and Friday Harbor en route.

Sidney Mayor Don Amos, recalling how close the run came to getting scuttled a decade ago, says his community works closely with Anacortes to promote it. He is echoed by Anacortes’ Munce. Given the pressures on Washington State Ferries, both know better than to take the link for granted.

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O.    B.C. Ferries directors’ pay raises questions

Nanaimo Daily News - May 22, 2008

It seems to be a question of whose spin the people of B.C. want to believe following revelations by the NDP that directors of B.C. Ferries made as much as $250 a minute, and $750 for a 20-minute phone conference, for work done on behalf of the B.C. Ferry Authority.

The explanation made by Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon and B.C. Ferries spokesman Mark Stefanson is that the NDP has messed up on its facts.

The directors, they say, were also being paid for the more extensive work being done for the B.C. Ferries Service Board after the few minutes of ferry authority work.

While the authority sets strategy, it is the board that dictates tactics — and no details from the board are released; no agenda, not even how long they meet.

The spin from Falcon and B.C. Ferries, that the NDP don’t have their facts right, might be believable if not for this rather disturbing other fact: B.C. Ferries is making decisions about millions of dollars of public money out of the public eye.

Given that scenario, how is the public to know how much other work the directors are doing and what they are worth? How can the NDP or anyone else looking at this situation be expected to have all the facts when they are not available?

The claim that all the NDP had to do was check with B.C. Ferries doesn’t cut it. For five years now the ferry authority has been a secretive outfit. It’s a position that continues to be insulting to taxpayers, ferry users and ferry staff. Nothing good, it must be remembered, happens in secret.

There is only one place to look to reveal how this situation came about: our provincial government. What the real intentions of the Campbell government were remain murky. The need for accountability and efficiency could have been easily achieved by keeping B.C. Ferries as a Crown corporation.

There was even a section in the collective agreement with the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union to negotiate increased efficiency and productivity.

In April 2003, after some legal ducking and dodging, the former Crown corporation was turned into a private company. It was exempted from the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and then came the Coastal Ferry Act and the Alternative Service Providers Plan, in which various routes would be privatized.

Upcoming is an effort by B.C. Ferries to exclude 515 people from the ferries union, claiming that “the current management structure of the present level of excluded positions does not fit the realities of today’s operating environment,” according to Glen Schwartz, the executive vice-president for human resources with “B.C. Ferry Services Inc.”

Never before in Canada has an effort been made to exclude that many people from union jurisdiction. They range from masters to night supervisors.

“The positions we seek to exclude are occupied by individuals who are required and must make decisions with management’s objective in mind,” states Schwartz. “This cannot be compromised.”

It’s interesting language after a perfectly good governing structure, regardless of what happened under the NDP, was compromised.

The decisions for which the directors appear to be handsomely paid appear to be leading to the dismantling of B.C. Ferries. This slow and apparently intentionally complicated process can only lead to deregulation of routes — de facto privatization.

Even major routes, if they can make enough money, can be deregulated, leaving only Transport Canada as the only government agency with oversight of coastal ferries.

As the public ponders the decisions for which ferry directors are paid, decisions we don’t know about, it has to be asked whether we want to turn back the clock 50 years to when the failures of private carriers led to the creation of B.C. Ferries.

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P.    Liberals blast ferry service (Australia)

Mossman Daily – May 21, 2008
Paul Tatnell

IT’S one of the Lower North Shore’s biggest grievances cancelled ferry services, run-down wharfs and lack of co-ordination between buses and ferries.

North Shore MP Jillian Skinner said public transport failures are at the top her list of residents’ complaints.

She said the state of the lower North Shore’s public transport is resulting in more cars on the road, causing traffic mayhem.

“I get more complaints, particularly about this (Taronga Zoo) service, than anything else,” she said.

“There is a lack of pride from the government and a lack of importance for a very important transport service. Ferries are not something you should do as a luxury.”

Mrs Skinner, NSW Liberal Leader Barry O’Farrell and Liberal Transport spokeswoman Gladys Berejiklian were all at Taronga Zoo wharf on Friday morning to discuss the “neglect of ferry services”.

Mr O’Farrell, who himself came by ferry, said services should be based on customers’ needs.

He said more than half a million ferry services had been cut since the State Government was elected.

“If you want Sydney public transport being used, then you have to focus on the customers, focus on the users,” he said.

“This is one of the great ways to travel to work if you are fortunate enough to have the access to ferries, but because there have been irregular services and because there has been cancellations, it’s putting more people onto roads and causing more problems.”

Mr O’Farrell said the poor management of ferries was also harming the city’s tourism market.

“I caught a ferry from Circular Quay and all of those seats were wet from overnight rain so they had water on them half a dozen tourists came outside wanting to use those seats, but nobody had bothered to clean those seats,” he said.

Ms Berejiklian said a Coalition government would provide “a better co-ordination between ferries and buses”.

“They (Labor) have no idea about co-ordination … it is so frustrating for someone to get off a ferry and see their bus go up a hill,” she said.

A spokesman for Transport Minister John Watkins said a Special Commission of Inquiry into Sydney Ferries would “recommended ways to ensure Sydney Ferries can deliver safe and reliable services into the future”.

“The government is considering its response to this report and will outline the detail in the coming months,” he said.

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Q.    Unions talk to ferry bosses on reform (Australia)

Sydney Morning Herald - May 19, 2008
Linton Besser

SYDNEY FERRIES CORPORATION has begun an ambitious reform program to prepare it for competition with the private sector, having forged an unlikely alliance with the powerful maritime unions.

After decades of poisonous relations, the ferries management and unions have taken a conciliatory tone in talks on how to save the service from privatisation. The Ministry of Transport has recommended private tenders be called for the operation of the ferries.

The Maritime Union of Australia and the Maritime Officers Union have offered in-principle support for the structural changes - including the introduction of crew-based rosters and a single enterprise agreement.

But the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers says the rosters, scheduled for implementation on June 2, will undermine safety.

The institute’s state secretary, Andrew Williamson, said: “These rosters will generate fatigue with up to five days of 12-hour shifts [of] navigating JetCats at night at 31 knots. It is unacceptable.”

Warren Smith, of the Maritime Union, has given cautious backing to the reform program. It was not about having a “common enemy” in privatisation but about proving the viability of public ownership. “If they want to take us on over private ownership then I doubt we would be as co-operative,” he said.

Fred Ross, of the Maritime Officers Union, said the rosters were still under consideration by the union, but “we’re trying to work constructively with them”.

The reform program also involves a range of marketing and service improvements.

The most expensive item is a controversial $400 million fleet replacement strategy that the chief executive of Sydney Ferries, Geoff Smith, wants under way immediately.

Private bidders are bitterly opposed to such a long-term purchase without the input of the winning tenderer.

A Sydney Ferries spokesman, Scott Maclean, said: “We have identified a range of initiatives which has the broad support of staff and unions … [and] which will help us become … safer, more customer-focused and efficient”.

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R.    Council tackles City Cat shortfall fears (Australia)

Brisbane Times - May 21, 2008
Georgina Robinson | - 12:04PM

Brisbane City Council must prolong the life of its eight original City Cats to prevent a drastic ferry shortfall in four years’ time.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has promised to boost Brisbane’s popular but stretched City Cat fleet from 11 to 19 in the next four years.

But council’s eight “first generation” City Cats - purchased in 1996 - are due for replacement in 2012, a move that would again leave just 11 vessels on the river.

Public and Active Transport chair Jane Prentice said council was testing a first-generation vessel to see if council could do anything to prolong their lives.

“We’ve got a professional study being done of the hull integrity and seeing how much longer they’re due to last, whether we can reinforce them and make their life even longer,” Cr Prentice said.

“We can’t afford to lose eight in 2012 and that’s why we’re doing that study now to make sure we have the incremental growth in size of the fleet.”

Cr Prentice said the City Cats’ hulls bore the greatest stress.

“That’s the part that’s in the water so it’s probably going to deteriorate faster - and that’s the most integrally important part of the ferry,” she said.

Testing is expected to take a month.

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S.    Ferry boat captains set to expand strike (Sweden)

The Local – May 20, 2008

The Swedish Ship Officers’ Association (SSOA) has given notice that a further 27 ferry boats, primarily in the Stockholm archipelago, are due to be hit by the ongoing labor dispute between the union and the Almega employers association.

“We’re increasing the pressure further. This notice comes after the weekend’s negotiations in which we didn’t get any sympathy for our contract proposal,” said SSOA representative Hans-Dieter Grahl to the TT news agency on Tuesday.

The proposal included a wage increase of 10.2 percent for ferry boat captains, to be implemented over three years.

The new measures, which are set to take affect May 30th, will primarily affect leisure routes such and sightseeing boats.

“Simply put, this is ridiculous. It is totally irresponsible,” said Hans Ronnerstam, a negotiator for Almega.

According to him, the weekend’s meetings weren’t about negotiations.

“We were supposed to meet on Sunday for a discussion completely free of any conditions when suddenly a finished contract landed on the table. There was no willingness to come to a deal through negotiations,” he said.

Ferry operators Blidösundsbolaget, Strömma Turism and Sjöfart, and Utö Rederi will be affected by the new measures.

On Monday, the union gave notice to the Styrsöbolaget ferry company in Gothenburg that a strike and blockade of overtime work would take effect on May 29th if the conflict is not resolved.

Since last week, 27 harbour and archipelago vessels have been affected by striking boat captains in both Gothenburg and Stockholm.

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WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT

NAME:  Kingston Express Association, a Washington non-profit corporation

PURPOSE: The purpose of the Association is to develop foot ferry service between Kingston and Seattle.

FOCUS:  The initial focus is to replace the Aqua-Express.  The Association will consider a range of concepts, analyze alternatives, and prepare a Kingston Community Foot Ferry Development Plan.

MEMBERSHIP:  Full membership is open to all former regular two-way riders of the Aqua-Express.  Associate members are welcome and may include members of the Kingston community, and others who support the goals of the Kingston Express Association.

VOTING: All full members are eligible to vote for a board of directors.

GOVERNANCE: A five person board of directors is elected annually by the members, who select among themselves a president, vice-president and secretary.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the weekly e-newsletter digest please send an e-mail to Nels Sultan at nsultan@kingstonexpress.org.   Anyone can receive the digest for free and there is no obligation.  See our web site for additional information: www.kingstonexpress.org