Comments for The Commute

Comment on Millennials expected to continue decline in driving by Cha Ching

Cha Ching — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:56:21 +0000

I have been encouraging my teens to pursue a car free life style. A life dependent on an automobile has its negative costs and with increasing traffic, tolls and automated infraction cameras and revenue hungry law enforcement, choosing to live car free can be positive. You have to also really look at the true cost of owning a car and compare that to getting around by bicycle, not only money but time.
Personally I have made changes like move closer to town in order to ride my bike instead of drive everywhere. We took a family vacation across country and took the train. Just little things like that but it is hard because of my old school mentality combined with a country that was built around the automobile.
For my kids I worry most about them growing up into this increasing Orwellian 1984 world. In the past three years of reading the KS I have seen some major strides in that direction, including the talk of building a school like a prison out in Belfair (in the name of fear and security) It has been interesting to read this paper, like a real life distopia novel of sorts. I feel like this paper is biased and is the official mouth piece for the local Leaders. I feel like this move to require people to pay to comment is really just a form of censorship. I think your readership is going to see a major decline because I bet the vast majority of your traffic was here to read the comment sections.

Comment on It’ll be illegal to part in electric vehicle charging space by Scott T

Scott T — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:47:13 +0000

Title Typo……illegal to PARK…..

Comment on Passengers could get bigger breaks on ferry fares by Fletc3her

Fletc3her — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 01:30:53 +0000

I’d like to see some changes to the parking at Southworth. The lot is nearly empty most of the time and the $5 fee is a disincentive to ride the ferry as a passenger.

Commuters are able to park at the nearby park and ride operated by Kitsap Transit. However providing the free shuttle costs KT money it could be spending on improved bus service on the other Southworth runs.

Comment on More comments from transit meeting on fast ferries by ed friedrich

ed friedrich — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:20:44 +0000

I don’t know about the jail story, and we’ve written about the Sunday ferry service, but I get your point. I agree that Kitsap Transit’s top priority should be to restore Sunday service and other hours that were cut, and they say it is. Generally I think they do a good job targeting service where it’s needed the most. They can’t afford to provide much service to places where there are few riders. That doesn’t make sense. But sometimes I wonder if bus service would be better off if there was never such a thing as fast ferries to distract them. I see both sides. I try to stay objective and I hope I’ve been able to do so.

Comment on More comments from transit meeting on fast ferries by ed friedrich

ed friedrich — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:11:16 +0000

I don’t know if it would be a done deal. Probably, because they spent all that money getting a boat to work there. But I don’t disagree that Kingston, despite its recent failure, and Southworth might be better options because they don’t already have service to downtown. But those routes could’ve been set up without any of the research. I think fast ferries are pretty cool and most others probably do too, probably even you. It’s just a matter of reasonably funding them. I don’t know how you do that, nor does anybody else.

Comment on More comments from transit meeting on fast ferries by Roger Gay

Roger Gay — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:30:39 +0000

“He often calls the agency “Kitsap Commuter Transit” because it mostly goes to the ferries and shipyard and not in the country where he lives.”

Yes Ed, I live in rural Kitsap County. I actually have a vehicle we use to drive and do not require bus service myself. I have talked to many in Kitsap County who could use effective bus service, but can not due to a lack of it. Kitsap Commuter Transit cut Sunday service, why not an article on how much that has cost Kitsap County, Port Orchard, and Olympia when that cut meant inmates could not be released from jail due to a lack of transportation out of the area? How much has the cuts by KT cost citizens when Bremerton, Port Orchard, and the Port of Bremerton pick up foot ferry costs between the two cities on weekends and holidays.

Frankly, I give a darn whether KT runs a bus by my house every hour between 0400 and 2400. What I care about is the hard working taxpayers getting a bang for their buck. I care about rural and urban residents being able to use a bus to do shopping trips or for lunch or a ballgame at a high school.

I believe an efficient, county wide, seven day a week, 18 hour a day bus service will bring more to Kitsap County than a 30 minute trip to Seattle for a less than a thousand commuters.

Roger Gay
South Kitsap

Comment on More comments from transit meeting on fast ferries by Roger Gay

Roger Gay — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:16:39 +0000

So would it be a done deal for the POF to work out of Bremerton? Even faster routes would be out of Southworth or even Bainbridge or Kingston. Cost for commuters? Did they not try a $7.00 and a $6.00 one way cost? What kind of payback on fares? The experiment garnered a 19% fare payback. That means 81% subsidized cost to taxpayers. With one experimental POF, what happens when it fails, as it will? That leads into additional Federal, State and County funds to buy more POF’s.

Kitsap County and its citizens would be better served with efficient, county wide, seven day a week bus service. But that is obviously not on the agenda of the Empire of Kitsap Commuter Transit.

Roger Gay
South Kitsap

Comment on More comments from transit meeting on fast ferries by ed friedrich

ed friedrich — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:16:45 +0000

The research is being buttoned up and will be published at any time. A recommendation that came out of it was to start off with the 60 trips a week Kitsap Transit had been offering, keep a close eye on it and go from there. Common sense says more trips would mean more impacts, but I don’t know where you’d draw the line.

Comment on More comments from transit meeting on fast ferries by Bob Meadows

Bob Meadows — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:09:44 +0000

Mayor Lent says there is no wake problem, but is that true?

Has the final research report been issued?

Did the preliminary report advise our elected officials to avoid increasing the number of runs because the damage would be greater with more runs through Rich Passage? To my recollection, the news article back then said the increase to 5 runs a day 6 days a week caused measurably greater shoreline damage, so the experts said not to count on more runs than that. (I haven’t looked for the final or the preliminary report, so, yes, I’m being lazy.)

If the runs from and to Bremerton are limited to 5 a day 6 days a week, that’s not the same as having solved the wake damage problem.

Comment on It could soon be the Emerald Queen Tacoma Narrows Bridge by SharonOHara

SharonOHara — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:31:39 +0000

Jan Angel disappoints me with this one…the one good thing, by the time it went into affect, only our descendants and other residents would be left holding the bridge name bag, Confusion.