King County Metro eyes passenger-ferry service

King County Metro is considering getting into the passenger-ferry business.

That could be good news for Vashon Island, which will lose passenger-only ferry service if the Legislature doesn't extend operating funds when the money runs out in June.

"Historically, there's been a lot of interest in some form of waterborne transit returning," said Eric Gleason, manager of Metro's service-development section. "There's renewed interest as the highways get more congested."

Earlier this month, Metro held two "stakeholder" meetings, in which dozens of public officials, maritime-industry representatives and others met to consider whether King County should invest in and participate in passenger-only ferry service.

Metro, which plans to issue a report with findings and recommendations in June, is looking at providing passenger-ferry service on Lake Washington and Lake Union and taking over the Vashon Island-downtown Seattle route now operated by Washington State Ferries.

When the state got out of the passenger-only ferry business two years ago, it continued to fund the Vashon route for two years.

Service fell victim to budget cuts

Passenger ferries known as the Mosquito Fleet sailed through Puget Sound in the early part of the 20th century and later were replaced by auto ferries. Now Washington State Ferries has the largest ferry fleet in the country.

In 1986, the state ferries began passenger-only runs between Seattle and Bremerton, using the 270-passenger Tyee, which was sold to Aqua Express and is now being used on the privately operated passenger-ferry route between Kingston and Seattle.

In 1990, passenger-ferry service was added to Vashon Island, and there were plans to expand the state's foot ferries until voters approved Initiative 695 in 1999. The measure cut the cost of automobile-license tabs and carved a huge hole in the state transportation budget, prompting the state to drop the passenger-only ferry service.

Now private operators, such as Aqua Express, have the rights to take over passenger-ferry routes. Another private operator runs a foot ferry from Bremerton to Seattle, and two companies have filed applications with the state to add passenger service between the Southworth area and downtown Seattle.

And the state is proposing adding a new passenger route from Southworth to Vashon to downtown Seattle.

Ferry service on the lakes?

As King County, which already operates the West Seattle water taxi in the summer, explores extending passenger-ferry service, many questions arise: What routes should be developed? Would the county contract with a private operator such as Argosy, which runs the West Seattle boat? How much would it cost and how would it be paid for? What about terminals and parking? How much of a subsidy should taxpayers provide?

The Legislature two years ago gave counties the right to create ferry districts and assess a property tax of 75 cents per every $1,000 valuation of property — or $75 per $100,000. Such a tax conceivably could be used to help pay for the Vashon ferry; it would require the approval only of the Metropolitan King County Council.

Metro also could levy a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax — an option available for transit — for passenger ferries, but that would require approval by voters.

Fares and possibly advertising also would be sources of revenue.

When Metro was updating its six-year plan, the council asked it to look into waterborne transit, Gleason said.

While Metro is not looking at any specific routes, it is exploring the possibility of a ferry across Lake Washington from Kirkland to the University of Washington and one on Lake Union that would link the University District, Fremont and South Lake Union. And it is looking at Vashon.

According to a study published by the Cascadia Center of the Discovery Institute, Metro in 1988 studied passenger-ferry service on Lake Washington but concluded that the service would be too slow to compete with buses, that it would be hard to build ferry terminals and that the market was questionable.

In 1989, the Port of Seattle studied the idea of passenger ferries on Lake Washington and concluded that dedicated shuttle buses to the ferry terminal would be needed and that the fares should cover the operating costs. It said those fares, as high as $3 each way, would be too high to compete with buses.

Sound Transit also has studied passenger ferries on Lake Washington and determined that ferries could be competitive with buses to the University of Washington, but that speed limitations in the Montlake Cut mean it wouldn't be feasible to provide ferries to downtown Seattle.

The West Seattle water taxi does not pay for itself, Gleason said, and has a subsidy similar to what the buses have: About 25 percent of the cost of running the service is covered by fares. On state ferries, the fares cover about 80 percent of the cost of operations.

If Metro decides to get into the passenger-ferry business, it may look to Kitsap County, which has been successful in promoting public-private partnerships in using federal money to build docks and contracting with private operators to run the boats.

One thing Metro will study, Gleason said, is whether there's new money to be made with passenger ferries: Would people who don't ride the bus ride a ferry instead?

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054