Port of Kingston Puts Forth Plan for Foot Ferry

Kitsap Sun - November 2, 2007

Ed Friedrich

If everything falls into place, a passenger ferry could be sailing between Kingston and downtown Seattle within two years.

That's an ominous caveat, considering not much has gone right during the community's decade-long quest for a route, but another key step forward was taken this week.

The Port of Kingston, buoyed by a $3.5 million federal grant in August, submitted a fast-ferry business plan to Gov. Chris Gregoire this week, beating a Nov. 1 deadline. The 26-page document brings the proposed operation into focus.

The port would take a start-small-and-grow approach, beginning with one new 100-passenger boat making one round trip in the morning and another in the evening. A used ferry would be purchased as a backup. The trip, at 25 knots, would take about 35 minutes. The port would try to work a deal to use the state's passenger ferry dock at Pier 50. The boat crew would consist of a master and an ordinary seaman.

The plan estimates that round-trip ticket prices would be $15 for adults, $13.50 for riders with ticket books, $12 for riders with quarterly passes and $7.50 for seniors.

That's competitive with a popular method of getting downtown today — walking on to the Kingston car ferry (which costs $6.70 for the round trip) and transferring in Edmonds to the Sounder train (which is $7 for the round trip).

The $3.5 million federal grant that the port surprisingly snagged can only be used for boats and terminals, and it would cover those costs. The port is asking the state for another $900,000 from the Passenger Ferry Account to be distributed over four years to help pay for operations and match the federal grant. After that, it figures ridership will have grown to about 200 round trips, enough to fully fund operations.

Assuming Federal Transit Agency funds are made available in June, and the new vessel is built in a year, the port can begin offering service in fall 2009.

The Passenger Ferry Account will be funded from the sale of state passenger ferries Chinook and Snohomish, which are no longer in use. Much of that money was expected to go to King County, which is taking over the Vashon Island passenger ferry from the state and contemplating other services.

"Until we showed up, I think King County thought it had the whole pot of gold to themselves," said Port of Kingston Director Mike Bookey. "I don't think anybody expected a $3.5 million grant to go to the Port of Kingston. Secondly, probably nobody expected us to be able to put together a business plan that's as good as King County's plan."

Washington State Ferries was close to providing passenger-only ferry service between Kingston and downtown Seattle in 1999, then it lost car-tab revenues and scrapped the program. The community took up the effort and in January 2005 it finally became reality. Aqua Express, a private company, leased the end of the port's fishing pier, built a dock there, and ran a commuter ferry for nine months. Gas prices spiked, the service attracted only half of the 600 riders per day that owners expected, and it shut down after losing more than $900,000.

Aqua Express retains the state permit for the route, but other companies can apply for it. Aqua Express wants to return as the operator. The Kingston Express Association, a nonprofit group of former riders who sought to replace the idled Aqua Express, also is interested. And the port could do it.

"That's a decision that's yet to be made," Bookey said. "If we can't get a good bid, we're not afraid to run it ourselves."

The port, learning from Aqua Express' demise, is proposing much smaller ferries that are less expensive to operate. Aqua Express' boat carried 319 passengers and burned up several hundred gallons of fuel per hour, according to the port's plan. The boat the port is proposing would consume just tens of gallons per hour.

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