I got an e-mail from an interesting user of the ferry system. While she wished not to be disclosed because of a pending article in another newspaper however she points out something that is interesting and which seemingly echoed a new article in today’s Kitsap Sun (Bottomed-Out Ferry System Looking to Bounce Back)
When I-695 passed, the Washington State Ferry system hit rock bottom with it’s funding. While the State did have a surplus of cash, improvements that were in the process of starting were put on hold or canceled, including the fast ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle along other fast ferry routes and four new ferries.
The lady that e-mailed me, commutes on the Bainbridge – Seattle 6 days a week, one of the days visiting friends and family on the main land. While it is expensive, she recalls times when the system was indeed much cheaper when I-695 was around. It is to be seen if things would be the same or changed if I-695 was never thought of but the fact that the system is highly degraded is enough to show the effects of the initiative and how the ferry and transit system remains to date.
While plenty of road and transit taxes have recovered from the effects of 695, the ferry system is system remains to drag along. The ferry system is the largest system used in the United States of America however it is the least funded and only select routes recover fare and make money (Seattle to Bainbridge Island)
My guest believes that in order for the ferry system to recover and function completely, a 5 to 7 cent tax for those ONLY in Kitsap County, Seattle, Vashon, the San Juan Islands, and the Olympic Pennisula should pay for the ferry services as those are the ones that use the system the most, State ran or not, food should be equal or greater on all boats where the run is greater than 25 minutes.
Should passenger only ferry service be on the States or even the Counties wish list? Certainly, as long as the distance covers the cost of the run. The best example was my in-depth study of the Snohomish on the Seattle to Port Townsend run which I still believe is an important route to have since it cuts down the drive 2 to 4 hour drive (depending on how backed up the Kingston to Edmonds is) to just 85 to 90 minutes on the Snohomish. I go into detail of just how much it would cost to make money and to break even.
http://watransportation.blogspot.com/2008/01/seattle-2-port-townsend-deeper-look.html
http://watransportation.blogspot.com/2008/01/number-crunching-port-townsend-seattle.html
In order to meet the expected demand for the next 10 to 15 years, we both agreed that we need to look at the following to meet up with demand.
San Juan Ferries – This run typically has 4 boats which are all approaching retirement age. These 4 boats need to be replaced soon. There should be at least 2 backup boats for this route but one would be work just as well.
Port Townsend – Keystone route needs 2 ferries running at all times and a minimum of 90 cars, especially during the Summer months where they could really get away using 150+ car ferries. The 30 minute crossing (including unload/load times) and one backup ferry.
Clinton – Mukilteo – While I have only been on the ferry 3 times, it is no surprise that the Issaquah 130 class boats currently on the run are not big enough to meet the growth now and in the future. The waiting area is good though and it’s short run makes it quick work of the cars waiting but a 150+ car boat would be best on this route. This run should have one backup which can be used on heavier known days. However in the interim…
These ferries operate are in serious need of some TLC, my ride on them yesterday was not impressive. New paint, a good wash to get the moss and other stuff growing on the windows is desperately needed. The lack of maintenance and torn seats were also a sign of what used to be a solid boat but now ran down and just pathetic. While the crossing is only 15 minutes, the entire run shouldn’t suffer, trust me, people notice.
Kingston – Edmonds – These are some of the newer boats and work good however WSF should consider running a 3rd ferry. While only a 25 minute crossing this route is commonly backed up 1 to 2 hours. Last summer on July 4th, there was a few times of the backups upwards of 3 hours. Super Jumbo Mark II class boats should be built for this run.
Bainbridge – Seattle – I love this route. The people, the scenery, the tourists, the Seagulls that flies with the boat when the weather is nice. Everything makes this route just excellent which is also one of the reasons why it is WSF’s highest patronized boat but again, the wait times are what kills this route and potential increased ridership. Taking a page out of BC Ferries, WSF should look at 300 car vehicles such as the new German built Super-C Class boats coming into service now. These boats have the capacity of 375 vehicles and 1,650 passengers and are simply stunning. These would be perfect for this route… but there one other problem.
Highway 305 which feeds the Bainbridge ferry through Bainbridge, is only a 2 lane highway. The entire highway needs to be a 4 lane highway between Bainbridge and Pouslbo to make things much more effective. While retaining the ferry only lane from Day Road to the terminal is vital. WSDOT needs to make this change as soon as it can to follow the growth of this run. It is the money maker and needs to be addressed. The three Super-C Class boats were only $370 million dollars.
Bremerton – Seattle – The poor Redheaded Stepchild of WSF which is the root of so many complaints and lack of service, shoddy ferries, lack of equal food service and getting the shaft when a boat needs a backup, needs to be re-thought, re-launched, and brought back to a reasonable service level with service to at least every 30 minutes. There is a lot that could be done but a shuffling of boats would be the right direction and using the Super Jumbo Class boats on this run would be the right step.
Fauntleroy – Vashon/Southworth – This route sometimes confuses me simply because I never been on it before. It is my understanding that some of the ferries continue from Vashon to Southworth. How they handle the vehicle loading is beyond me but at any rate from looking at route stats, it could use the Jumbo Class Mark I boats on the Fauntleroy to Vashon runs and a smaller 100 car ferry for the Fauntleroy to Southworth run. There needs to be a new waiting location at this terminal instead of the vehicles lining up all down the street and in front of peoples homes and the park there. There shouldn’t be a shared use of runs IMO.
Pt. Defiance/Tehlequah (Vashon) – The Evergreen is the only boat on this run and it suits it beautifully but will need to be replaced. This boat overtime should be upgraded to at least a 100 car ferry but anything bigger would be a waste since most of the users take the Vashon – Fauntleroy run to get to Seattle.
If I was Paula Hammond and had opion of the 5 cent tax increase to buy new boats and maintain service.. I would at least do the following:
2 Super Jumbo class boats (144-car) and 2 Issaquah 100 class (90-car) boats on the San Juan Route
2 Issaquah 100 class boats on the Port Townsend – Keystone route (90-car).
2 Jumbo Class (188-car) boats on the Clinton – Mukilteo route
3 Jumbo Class (188-car) boats on the Kingston – Edmonds route
3 Super-C Class (370-car) boats on the Bainbridge – Seattle route
3 Super Jumbo Mark II (202-car) boat on the Bremerton – Seattle route (boats moved from Bainbridge)
4 Jumbo Class (188-car) boats on the Vashon/Southworth – Fauntleroy route
1 Issaquah 130 (124-car) boat on the Pt. Defiance – Tehlequah route
2 Passenger Only Fast Ferries on the Seattle to Kingston/Port Townsend route.
Plenty of room for expansion and the boats can be used on any route.
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the whole west side of the Sound is backed up with traffic. We don’t need any more cars here.
You build a freeway from Bainbridge to Route 3, figure in the costs of a new bridge at Agate Pass, and a cloverleaf at the Casino, and you’re still backed up at Poulsbo where you can’t put a limited access road through.
Route 3 is bumper-to-bumper on summer afternoons, and a 30 minute wait at the chokepoint in Bremerton is not uncommon. Or you could join the 5 mph bumper-car chain taking the sneak route past the chokepoint.
101 is also bumper-to-bumper on a lot of summer days, and close to that on Thanksgiving and Christmas, out to Sequim and PA. South of Bremerton Route 3 is two-lane from Gorst to Shelton, on a summer weekend you can hardly get on the high way if you go to the post office in Belfair.
As for dumping more cars into the San Juans, how big do you think these islands are? People should be ‘encouraged’ to leave their cars on the mainland, use a shuttle to get to their resort or park, and use bicycles to get around on the islands.
Enough already- it’s time to realize that when you add more cars at any point of this system, most of which has NO collateral circulation, you’re just piling up crawling traffic jams somewhere down the road.
If this is some kind of head-scratching problem to add more passenger service and connecting transit, it’s time to start scratching our heads and figure it out. Building more roads is an evolutionary dead end.
I’m totally aware of the situation and the need for other transit options, especially for Bainbridge and I’m not proposing laying down a new elevated freeway with cloverleafs all up and down the 305, 101 and 3.. no need for that. All I suggested was the need to have a 4 lane highway from the terminal to the 101 interchange. The only time when it is busy is when the 200 cars gets off the boats, give it 15 minutes and it’s typically clear except during rush hour.
The Olympic pennisula itself is busy because it is indeed a tourist location. It’s a beautiful drive to the Olympic Mountains and some incredible wineries. I know this, I lived over there for 6 months and moved back because of the traffic conditions.
If you want to encourage people to use park and rides, you need the facilities to do so and I’m sorry, the Park and Ride at Day Road doesn’t cut it.
Those that do drive live further than the transit use or only runs every hour or three (according to Kitsap and Jefferson County Transit)
All I said was the need for bigger boats and trust me, bigger boats will not add more people over there but it would reduce the wait times dramatically. Just because I also suggest bigger car ferries doesn’t mean more will come, that means more capacity, less people to discourage because you are waiting for 2 hours.
I’m all for clean transit but at what point do you have to give up your freedom of driving when transit doesn’t even work for the user. Bicycles are fine as well but you also can’t shove that down their throats. The only point where I mentioned a bigger road is Highway 305, using bigger boats on all the others runs will not hurt or damage the system and will reduce waiting times at terminals
If we want to be politically correct, all we are doing is moving the temporary jam from Terminal across the water to another Terminal where that road picks up.
I think you’re missing a few points here, the main one being that building big boats is measured in hundreds of millions in cost, and the big boats only work with big terminals and big roads to carry off the traffic.
Technically speaking, the 101 junction is south of Discovery Bay, and there are two two-lane bridges between Bainbridge and 101.
South of Bremerton, widening Route 3 would be even more awesome. On one side of the road you have the railroad serving the shipyard and nuclear subbase. That’s one shortline that won’t be torn up. On the other side you have stone cliffs. I imagine you might be able to blast those in the middle of the night, but the traffic disruption would still be incredible.
Anyway, the existing roads can barely handle normal local traffic. Almost none of them have anywhere for a bicyclist other than in the traffic lane, which the cyclist shares with tandem dumps and low-boys carrying bulldozers at 45 mph. If none of these roads and terminals are suffering from ferry traffic, why have I been stuck in a traffic jam every time I get near a terminal for the past 5 years?
As for the cost of fixing this, in Belfair we have the By-pass project, about 5 miles long, currently estimated about $37 million, but probably more like $45 million if it is ever completed 12 years from now.
If any of this made sense when oil was $50/bbl, does it still make sense when oil is $95/bbl? Will it still make sense when oil is $150/bbl? Not to me, it won’t.
Aloha, ladies and gentlemen of greater Kitsap, I have a proposal. We would like to send to you our fast ferries. One now (could be there by April or May) and one more in 2009. These are nice, top of the line fast ferries that can carry people and cars. They just aren’t right for us out here, but I think they would be perfect for you all.
Hope it helps, Aloha, Brad :)
http://www.hisuperferry.blogspot.com