Judging from the comments on my Seahawks fast ferry story, some
facts are in order.
The low-wake ferry Rich Passage 1 is owned by Kitsap Transit.
Washington State Ferries has nothing to do with it.
A half-hour trip to the NFC championship game would largely be
promotional, although it could slightly reduce crowds on the car
ferries. It can carry just 118 people. The RP1 needs to be operated
periodically, anyway, to keep it in good running order. Bremerton
Mayor Patty Lent thinks it’d be great to kill two birds with one
stone. She’s not shy about fast ferries. Like many others, Lent
thinks they’d be great economically for the city and surrounding
area. Many also disagree. With a proposition to run fast ferries
full time possibly going on the ballot in the next year or two, she
wants to showcase them as much as possible.
Nobody would make a killing on the Seahawks trip. Lent and Kitsap
Transit are just trying to cover expenses, primarily crew and fuel,
as the feds require. The $25 round-trip ticket wouldn’t bring in
half of the $7,000 needed. That’s why Lent’s looking for sponsor
organizations. I’d think they’d see it as advertising. Neither the
city nor Kitsap Transit would be footing any of the bill.
Nobody is being forced to ride the boat. Car ferries will be
available for about $8 for the round trip.
If voters did eventually approve the service, tickets of $25
would be too high to be competitive with the state. Kitsap
Transit is thinking more in the $12-13 range. That would cover 25
to 30 percent of operating costs, so a tax increase would be
needed.
One thought on “Misconceptions about the possible Seahawks fast ferry trip”
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Another aspect to the continuing saga of passenger only ferries (PoF) is the support that Kitsap Transit is getting in Olympia to change the laws to allow a transportation district (like Kitsap Transit which is county wide) to create a smaller passenger only ferry district to fund the 70 to 75 percent of operating costs not covered by fares. So far the elected officials in the 35th District have either not responded to my questions as to their position on the subject, or danced around the subject matter without really giving a solid response.
Maybe the Sun can research the house and senate bills that would allow the creation of a smaller ferry specific transit district and determine the support from our elected officials. If the consultants recommendations are followed, a sale tax increase of at least 0.2% is on the horizon. The odds are that the new smaller district and the retail concentration in Kitsap County will overlap significantly. So rural taxpayers and voters will get to pay the sales tax yet have no say in the PoF transportation district. Maybe if the consultants other ideas for income were followed, an MVET increase and/or a parking fee, those outside the PoF district would not feel as if they were forced to pay for a system they had no say in.
The odds are the dysfunctional mass of elected officials in Olympia will pass new regulations to allow Kitsap Transit (Mayor Lent) to reduce the voting area to allow a greater chance of passing a new tax on residents for PoF service. So a reduced PoF transportation district to cover Bremerton, Southworth & Kingston that charges taxpayers in that area an increased MVET and a parking fee on parking within the district may be more fair to all of Kitsap County taxpayers and voters vice a sales tax.