Everybody loves the Elliot Bay Water Taxi. This Ballard News Tribune piece about transportation brings up the possibility of a Ballard to Downtown Ferry.
A new King County Ferry District ordinance, passed recently by the Metropolitan King County Council, could potentially fund a feasibility study for a passenger-only ferry route from Shilshole to downtown Seattle. The district could also support the operation of Vashon-Seattle ferries and year-round Elliott Bay Water Taxi service.
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Funding to study the Shilshole Ferry idea could be included in that plan, he said.
That study would raise many questions about how the route might operate, such as dock site, customer market, operating issues and parking.
The piece also mentions the idea of a Sounder stop in Ballard, which would likely slow down the trip to and from Everett but would probably add a lot of numbers to the route. It wouldn’t be that expensive either since the line goes through Ballard already.
Well I am iffy on this subject, living in Magnolia and actually taking the 15/18 routes daily seems to be effective. Especially since I believe that is one of the corridors that Transit Now is supposed to relieve with the Rapid Ride busses. To simply have a Sounder station would be nice I agree, but it would drop most people off at King Street Station, so then they would have to take a bus or Light rail to finish the journey. I am 50/50. I see the benefits to having Sounder in Ballard, but I also see the benefits in not having Sounder. Besides it is 4 trips in and 4 trips out currently. I suppose though added numbers may increase that depending on if BNSF agrees. Living where I live the transportation is mediocre at best. I walk down to 15th Ave everyday, which makes it much better. I do want to say however, the Sounder is awesome!