The Commute

I didn’t have the space in Wednesday’s paper to get into the simmering Tacoma Narrows Bridge toll controversy, other than to say there’ll be a meeting on Tuesday in Gig Harbor.
For a difference of 50 cents per crossing, things are really heating up. The citizen advisory group recommended that electronic tolls stay at $2.75; the Transportation Commission wants $3.25.
The latest episode is that local legislators had asked for meetings in Port Orchard and Gig Harbor where the state treasurer could explain his new “framework” to the public and the Transportation Commission could back up their proposal. Treasurer Jim MacIntire wants to maintain a higher reserve than the citizen group has done in the past. The Narrows doesn’t need it, but it will look good when the state is trying to get the lowest bond rates for future mega-projects.
After those meetings, the citizen group would meet to decide whether to stand its ground or fall in with the Transportation Commission.
Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, and Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, were pretty ticked off when they found out the first two meetings weren’t scheduled, only the citizen group meeting (5-7 p.m., Civic Center).
“The people need to understand what is happening here,” Angel said. “That’s what we wanted more than anything, a meeting that would provide that information to the public.
“The three of us are greatly disappointed. They’re not paying any attention to us. They’re going to do what they want to do and just let it go.”
“I’m disappointed we’re not offering our citizens a chance to understand this proposal,” Seaquist said. “Sen. Kilmer, Rep. Angel and I remain opposed to it.”
It looks like the Transportation Commission is trying to combine the three meetings into one. The treasurer will speak, Commissioner Dan O’Neal will explain the Transportation Commission’s position and then the citizen group will decide.
Reema Griffith, the Transportation Commission’s administrator, said the commission won’t host any public meetings until it has an actual rate proposal and the financial plan that goes with it. The members are wrestling with whether the treasurer’s 110 percent coverage factor is the right thing to do. They’re not unanimous on that, she said.
“It’s currently premature for the commission to publicly host anything,” she said. “We’re not sure what we’re going to say is the right path to take on this.”
The commission made its $3.25/$5 proposal to get the citizen group’s reaction, she said. It’s probably on the higher end of what they’re considering.
“There’s plenty of room for discussion,” she said. “We’re far from committed to it. We’re getting reaction from the treasurer and we’re going to get reaction from the CAC.”
Griffith does side with the treasurer that tolls policy must be consistent statewide, so this decision has implications for future toll-setting.
“The bottom line is it’s all in flux right now,” she said. “We’re trying to assure people it’s not a done deal, that the horse hasn’t left the barn.”
After Tuesday’s meeting, the citizen group will report back to the Transportation Commission at its Feb. 16-17 meeting and the commission will decide on the number of local public input meetings. The commission will release its official toll proposal at its March 16-17 meeting, hold public input meetings in April and hold its final rate hearing where it will enact the rates in late May. They will go into effect on July 1.

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Kitsap Transit is playing to a tough crowd.
I wrote a story for Saturday’s paper that told about transit executives and board members committing to plan the agency’s long-range future so as not to spend money on things they don’t need. It seemed like a wise move, but readers who commented on the story showed no mercy. Seventeen of 18 messages were negative.
Just the words “Kitsap Transit” bring out hostility in people. One of the agency’s first goals needs to be to somehow turn around its image, otherwise it’ll be hard to get anything done.
But what can it do? What do people want from Kitsap Transit?
I get the fast ferry complaint. Twice you voted down sales tax increases for ferries. Still the agency wants to put them on the water. You think you’re not being listened to and don’t want to pay for somebody else’s commute. But if you’re a commuter, fast ferries are the best thing going. Not much middle ground there. Did you ever ride the Chinook or Snohomish before they were forced to slow down? They were too cool, outside of scouring beaches down to hardpan. Plus, the state was paying for them.
Several commenters chided Kitsap Transit for being “Kitsap Commuter Transit.” It serves commuters to the ferries and the shipyard well, but not those who want to get from Suquamish to the mall during the day. Well, buses need to go where the people are. They’re for “mass” transit, not taxi service. If you think they’re highly subsidized now, imagine how much it would cost to run to the boonies all the time to fetch a couple people.
A commenter said, “ … try and get a bus from Hansville to Port Orchard to Olalla to Belfair.” Has anybody every wanted to do that?
We all benefit to some degree, though it doesn’t seem like it when we’re sitting on Navy Yard Highway when the shipyard lets out or stuck in Highway 305 ferry traffic. Just think of how much worse it would be if those thousands of people riding in buses were driving cars.
Fares, by the way, cover 19 percent of Kitsap Transit’s operating costs. Seventy-seven percent comes from local sales taxes. Everybody in the county pays it, so I guess you could argue that everybody should get the same service. Maybe in New York or Chicago, but not here. Did people move to Seabeck or Olalla expecting to ride the bus? I don’t think so. How did they get around before there was a Kitsap Transit?
Commenters also complained that Kitsap Transit and its board are Bremerton-centered. It’s hard to argue otherwise, considering it helped to build the Bremerton Transportation Center, has a floor for its headquarters above the Kitsap Conference Center, and the routed and Access main bases are in the city. My question would be, where would be better.
Three board members are from Bremerton, two each from North Kitsap and South Kitsap, and one each from Bainbridge and Central Kitsap. They’re mayors, county commissioners and city council people.
Kitsap Transit says its first task will be to restore Sunday and other service that have been cut the past couple years because of budget shortfalls. That would be a good place to start in restoring some goodwill.

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The Washington State Transportation Commission wants more ferry riders to sign up for F.R.O.G. — Ferry Riders Opinion Group. F.R.O.G. members get to continually voice their opinions on important ferry issues.  Share your travel behaviors, and opinions, preferences and feedback on operational and pricing strategies that are or may be considered by the state.  It’s a way to make your voice heard

To get started, go here.

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Port of Kingston Commissioner Pete DeBoer said this morning that the port is no longer considering buying a new passenger-only ferry for the commuter route it wants to establish to downtown Seattle. The commissioners want to begin operating in September, plus have deadlines on using a federal grant, and building a new boat would take too long, DeBoer said.
All American Marine in Bellingham proposed in November to build one of two 149-passenger boats — a 65-footer for $2.6 million or an 83-footer for $3.1 million. The commissioners said they’d focus on a used ferry, but a new one hadn’t been totally ruled out.
Commissioners plan to go to Seattle and take the M/V Spirit for a test drive next week, DeBoer said. Between February and April 2005, the foil-assisted catamaran was part of a research project about ferry wakes’s effects on Rich Passage beaches.
The aluminum boat was launched in December 2004 and is owned by Four Seasons Marine. It has a cruising speed of 35 knots.
There’s a ton of information and photos here about the boat.

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Scheduled bridge maintenance overnight Saturday will close three lanes on the westbound Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Lane closures are scheduled from 10 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday. All motorists will use the HOV lane and should prepare for delays.
During the closure, crew will be welding underneath the bridge and, for safety, need the pavement overhead to be free of live traffic.

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The state Transportation Commission will be talking about Narrows Bridge tolls today. I’m headed down to see what they come up with. The citizens advisory committee recommended that the electronic toll remain at $2.75 and the the manual toll go from $4 to $5. Some transportation commission members think that’s too much of a gap between the two rates, and the state treasurer doesn’t think it would put enough in the reserve account. Look for the story sometime in the early evening.

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According to a story that just came across the AP wire, the state Transportation Department is recommending variable tolling for traffic through the proposed tunnel that would replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle.
An official told KIRO Radio tolls could range from $1 at night to $4 in peak times. Tolls are expected to raise about $400 million toward the cost of the tunnel project.
Program administrator Ron Paananen says the department recommends variable-rate tolling so drivers would continue using the tunnel rather than alternate routes that could choke surface streets.
Lawmakers will make the final decision on tolls for the tunnel, which is scheduled for 2015.

For a little perspective, tolls on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge are $2.75 for those with electronic transponders and $4 for those using the toll booths. They’ll be going up on July 1. Nobody knows by how much. I think the Legislature provided $25 million for the bridge, compared to the $400 million the tunnel will get. Bridge users will pay for the rest of the $728 million cost.

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Washington State Ferries final Vehicle Reservations Predesign Study was submitted to the Legislature on Jan. 11. You can check it out at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/planning/vehiclereservations.htm. Now it’s up to the Legislature to read it and tell WSF how to proceed.

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Washington State Ferries survived nine days with a broken boat without raiding the Bremerton route. It wasn’t easy.

The 90-car Sealth went down on Jan. 5 with a bad engine output shaft. I don’t know what that is, exactly, but it was pretty bad. The Evergreen State, which is about 5 knots slower than the Sealth, took its place part of the time and was late, late, late, like as much as an hour.

And the little 34-car Hiyu spelled the E-State on the interisland route. That’s the only backup boat in the fleet right now.

Well, they made it. The Sealth has been fixed and passed sea trials and will rejoin the route early this afternoon.

Another ferry note: Vehicles longer than 30 feet won’t be allowed on the Port Townsend-Keystone route until Tuesday because of construction at Keystone. They’ll need to use the Edmonds-Kingston route.

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I can remember when cars didn’t even have seat belts. Now
96.4 percent of Washington drivers and passengers wear them, according to the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission’s 2009 survey.
Those last 3.5 percent are proving hard to convert. The past few years, the rate has been 96.3 percent, 96.4, a high of 96.5 in 2008 and now 96.4 again. Last year, only Michigan (97.2) and Hawaii (97.0) were higher. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t come out with its 2009 numbers yet, but Michigan claims to have jumped to 97.9 percent.
Not so long ago, few people wore seat belts. Washington adopted its seat belt law in 1986. At that time, usage was just 36 percent. Since then, traffic deaths have dropped from 528 in 1986 to 362 in 2009 despite a hefty increase in the number of miles traveled.
Washingtonians’ fear of getting a big ticket might be tied to their high ranking. The fine here is $124, compared to a national average of just $38. That theory doesn’t hold up across the country, however. Texas, the only state with a stiffer penalty, of $200, has a lower seat belt usage of
91.2 percent.
Michigan gets incredible compliance with just a $25 ticket. Massachusetts has the lowest percentage of seat belt users at 66.8 percent. New Hampshire, at
69.2 percent, is better than that despite being the only state without a seat belt law.
I don’t remember having seat belts when I was a kid in the 1960s. They must’ve been stuffed under the seat because history says they were there. They first appeared in the front seats in the mid-1950s and became standard equipment for most makes by the early 1960s. A federal law that took effect in 1968 required all vehicles to be fitted with seat belts in all seating positions. Whether they were there or not, I never wore them, and I don’t know anybody who did.
That lasted into the 1980s, when a sister-in-law and good friend were killed in car wrecks within weeks of each other. A seat belt might have saved both of them. I swore at the funeral I’d never go without one again. It hasn’t been that hard a pledge to keep.
I’ve been in a few wrecks and they substantiate the benefits of seat belts. I wasn’t wearing a belt in one crash and smashed my head into the windshield. Knocked me out and sliced me up a bit. Still have the scars to prove it. Another time I rolled a nice Torino down a bank and landed on the top. I wound up hanging upside down from the belt, but was able to crawl out without a scratch.
The Washington survey observed 87,946 drivers and passengers on different kinds of roads. People in passenger cars had the highest seat belt use
(96.8 percent) followed by SUVs (97.3), vans
(95.5) and pickups (94.5). It was highest on state highways and interstate freeways and lowest on city streets and county roads.
Seat belt laws can have primary or secondary enforcement. Primary allows police to stop and ticket a driver if the driver isn’t wearing a seat belt. For secondary, officers can only cite somebody for not wearing a seat belt if they pulled him over for a primary offense. Washington changed from being a secondary state to a primary one in 2002, which promoted a lot more people to click their belts.
Now that seat-belt use here is stalled 3 percent short of everybody, I wonder if it’s worth it to continue to “Click It Or Ticket” emphasis patrols and marketing campaign.
As my editor said, half-seriously, if it can save one life, it’s worth it. Maybe they can stop in 2030, when Washington has set a goal of zero traffic deaths.

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