Private ferry plans stalled for more study

Plans for a private passenger ferry between Southworth and downtown Seattle have been put on hold for a year while the state Legislature decides whether it should be in the passenger-ferry business.

The Legislature appointed an 18-member committee to review the most reliable and cost-effective way to provide passenger-ferry service. Just last year the state did its own study on foot ferries.

The fight over ferries pitted House Speaker Ed Murray, D-Seattle, a big supporter of the so-called state triangle route, which would operate a state-funded ferry between Southworth, Vashon and downtown Seattle, against his counterpart in the state Senate, Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, a strong backer of allowing private operators to run the route. Because neither would budge, the decision was put off for a year.

Murray said he wasn't happy about it, but there was little choice.

"We would have preferred to do the cheaper option, running the triangle route and not have the privates move forward," he said. "But in the interest of trying to move the most significant transportation budget in state history, this could have derailed it."

As part of the legislative package, lawmakers agreed to continue to fund passenger-ferry service to Vashon Island for up to two more years.

"We're holding everything in place so we don't start over again," Murray said. "This is a chance to come to some sort of agreement."

The state says half of the riders on the Vashon passenger ferry come from Southworth.

The state has proposed putting two mothballed ferries, the Chinook and Snohomish, on the triangle route. The legislative decision means they'll stay in mothballs for another year.

Two private companies, Aqua Express and Mosquito Fleet, have filed applications with the state Utilities and Transportation Commission to operate a private foot ferry between Southworth and downtown Seattle.

The Legislature voted to "freeze" the applications until July 2006 while it decides what to do about passenger ferries.

Jim Boldt, spokesman for Aqua Express, which now operates a private ferry between Kingston and downtown Seattle, said he was disappointed by the legislative decision.

"This lets us hold our place," he said. "But we're caught in the middle. We had hoped there would be a clear signal to the private sector, and now we have to go forward another year. We asked for certainty. We didn't get it."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com