This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
King County’s ferry fleet got the green light yesterday:
Under the plan, the county is to spend about $18 million the first year to pay for the Vashon ferry and the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, as well as five demonstration routes: Kirkland, South Puget Sound, Kenmore, Shilshole and Renton. The plan doesn’t identify where the ferries would run, but the assumption is the Kirkland ferry, for example, would go to the University of Washington.
Vashon is an easy one. The state killed the passenger ferry there a few years ago, so it’s a known route. Also, it’s not like Vashon island residents have the option of not taking a ferry to get to Seattle (though this one will be twice as fast). The real test will be in the routes that compete directly with overland roads.
I’m all about finding new rights-of way, but I’m a little skeptical of the system, since you can’t build ferry terminals near residential population centers. Sure, a few people live right on Shilshole Bay or along the Des Moines waterfront, but most of these riders will have to get to the passenger terminal via another form of transportation. Either you build huge park-and-ride garages on the waterfront (doubtful!) or people have to take the bus and transfer, at which point you might as well have taken the bus the whole way (in many cases).
One real winner, though, could be bike riders. You can easily imagine a bike rider zipping down to the West Seattle or Kirkland waterfront and tossing his/her bike on the ferry or locking it up at the terminal. Ballard-to-downtown bikers also could benefit from a route that allows them to avoid the dangerous and bike-hostile Ballard Bridge/15th Ave. NW route.
Comments are closed.