The future of the Ferries

[yewberry]

What do folks think about the future of WSF and the long-term plans recently released? Will WSDOT's fond wishes about dismantling the Ferries come true? If you have an opinion or an idea about cost-cutting, consider attending a meeting. They need to hear voices other than the KVI parrots re: privatization and the evil, evil unions.




"The draft plan comes a historic point in marine transportation,"said David Moseley, Ferries Division Assistant Secretary. "Demand for ferry service is projected to increase as population in ferry-served communities grows, but the system is constrained by tight financial resources, limited vehicle carrying capacities during peak periods, and aging vessels and terminals."

The draft plan puts forward two options for consideration:

* Plan A. This option assumes that the State will continue in its current role as owner, operator, and principal funder of ferry services in the Puget Sound region. Current level of service remains with operational strategies implemented over time and several new vessels coming online. This plan contains a significant budget shortfall that will require new revenues.

* Plan B. This option recognizes that the State may not be able to provide new revenues to meet the evolving needs of all ferry customers and communities, and looks at marine transportation very differently. It proposes an alternative where the State takes responsibility for the core marine highway system and a locally-funded entity or entities would take responsibility for a new marine transit system. This option also assumes operational strategies would be implemented over time. It also contains a budget shortfall, but it is significantly smaller than Plan A.

The public hearing schedule is as follows:

* Monday, Jan. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Southworth
South Colby Elementary, 3281 Banner Rd. SE, Port Orchard.

* Tuesday, Jan. 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Bainbridge Island/Seattle Bainbridge Island Commons, 402 Brien Dr., Bainbridge Island.


* Wednesday, Jan. 14, 6-8 p.m. – Kingston/Edmonds
Kingston Yacht Club, 25915 Washington Blvd., Kingston.

* Thursday, Jan. 15, 11:35 a.m.-3:30 p.m. – San Juan Islands
Aboard San Juan Inter-Island Ferry.

* Thursday, Jan. 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Anacortes
Fidalgo Senior Center, 1701 22nd St., Anacortes.

* Wed., Jan. 21, 6-8 p.m. – Fauntleroy
Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California SW, Seattle.

http://www.sanjuanislander.com/state/wsf/dec-19-long-range-plan.shtml

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/jsj/news/36855244.html

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Any meetings for Mukilteo/South Whidbey?

I'd love to see Tim Eyman there but he's probably too much a coward to show up.

[yewberry]

2. I think the Mukilteo meeting was Wednesday.

I know someone who went to that meeting, and she said it was very, very ugly.

Yeah, I've got some choice words for Eyman, too.

[sneakythomas]

3. As I'm reading that

It isn't necessarily talking about privatization. There are already a couple of local entities operating ferries in the state (Anacortes to Guemes Island for example). This might not be a bad thing if it opens up more efficient options.

I'm an accountant and if I did my job the way the guys at WSF are doing their's I would have been unemployed a long time ago. Everytime the auditor's office releasing a report there's missing money, mispent money etc.

And a funny story: I located this one while researching a historical novel I'm trying to get published. There used to be a ferry running from Kirkland to what's now Madison Park. It was a private enterprise using a public dock. At some point the county took over the whole operation, which naturally irritated the ferry guy. The county system was notorious for running late, so the ferry operators would cruise off the dock until it filled up with annoyed commuters waiting for the county ferry; then they'd run in, load up and head across the lake. The county eventually made it illegal to dock a private vessel at a public dock.

[yewberry]

5. The proposals themselves

aren't necessarily talking about privatization (though that's the focus of most of the libertarian/right-wing commentary on the matter), but they are seriously looking at trying to shift some of the finances to the communities that the ferries serve.

Truthfully, I think you're way off about the accounting at WSF--if you had to operate at a deficit every year for decades, you'd be in dire straits, too. They haven't had a dedicated capital fund since 1999, and they're expected to cover all vessel maintenance and construction with no extra funding (after having lost 75% of their funds since Eyman's MVET disaster.)

I just can't see a way out of the hole for the Ferries.

[sentelle]

4. Bleh

Ferry fares have doubled in five years, and every two years they talk about finding a way to fund the thing with less commuter money.
They add vendors to the coleman dock, and to do the construction, they increase fares.
They move to an electronic system, and they increase the fares.

The WSF system is officially part of the highway system. This is taken as a binding contract out where I live. This contract was made when the state took over the mosquito fleets, and built the bridge over Agate Pass.

It might be about time that the ferries are funded the way the highways are, rather than have the ferry commuters subsidizing the highway system. Its just about fairness.