Ferry Commuters Surly in Seattle as Prices Rise

Every day at 5 a.m. in this blue-collar Navy town, state ferries begin bearing thousands of sleepy commuters across Puget Sound to their jobs in Seattle.

It has long been difficult to beat: a saltwater commute, with seal and occasional whale sightings and forested islands all around. The sturdy car ferries, illuminated like floating birthday cakes during nighttime runs, are a beloved regional icon.

These days, though, a lot of ferry commuters have had enough.

Rates are going up 20%, and even more for the passenger-only boats that serve Bremerton and Vashon Island--a service that had been touted as a way to further reduce dependency on cars and ease pollution and congestion.

Some who moved across the Sound hoping to escape the overheated Seattle housing market, yet also take advantage of the city’s employment opportunities, wonder if they made a mistake.

“We may have to look at moving to the other side of the water,” said Sarah Arquitt, 24, who brought her toddler to a public meeting on the increases. She and her husband, who work for a Seattle-based health insurance company, moved west to Silverdale in October, counting on the Washington State Ferries to make their new lifestyle possible.

Driving isn’t a preferable option. Although all the central-Sound points served by Washington State Ferries can be reached over roads except for Vashon, the drive around the Sound’s south end to Seattle takes an hour at best--and much longer at rush hour.

The new rates, which still must be approved by the Legislature and Gov. Gary Locke, are expected to take effect later this spring.

Finding a way to keep the nation’s largest ferry system afloat was one of the first concerns in 1999 after voters passed Initiative 695, which instituted an annual $30 fee for license tabs in place of a 2% vehicle-excise tax.

The auto levy, which helped Washington manage without a state income tax, had been a key source of transportation revenues. Its elimination left the ferry system more than $280 million short of its combined two-year operating and capital budgets.

A task force concluded fares must be increased to cover 80% of operating costs--up from the current 60%--by 2006.

Even 30-year ferry captain Nick Tracy is dubious.

“This is a form of public transportation. I don’t know of any public transportation that makes money,” Tracy said during a recent stop in Bremerton. The rate increases, he said, “could reach a point of diminishing returns, where people say they’re not going to ride ferries anymore.”

Many ferry riders are chafing. Some say the system has long been considered an extension of Washington’s state highway system. And when it comes to highways, “nobody pays 80%,” said Tina Dawson, 44, who moved to Vashon Island in September.

“I think it’s logical to make people pay for services as long as it’s applied across the board,” said Bruce Stigler of Southworth, who makes a two-ferry commute--a short hop from his town on the Kitsap Peninsula to Vashon, and then on to Seattle--to his job as a graphic designer.

Linda Van Matre of Vashon accepts the basic premise.

“Why should the taxpayers in eastern Washington support ferries in western Washington that are no benefit to them whatsoever?” she said. “I’m sorry--this is the real world.”

If people want highways, ferries--”those things government does better than private citizens--you have to pay,” she says.

For Vashon islanders, the passenger-only ferry means delivery to downtown Seattle. The car ferry lands in west Seattle, and most walk-on passengers take buses downtown.

For Bremerton foot-ferry commuters, the issue is time: The passenger-only boat makes the run in 30 minutes--half the time required by the slower, heavier car ferries. That enables single mothers to take jobs in Seattle, where wages are higher, and still get home in time to pick up the kids at day care.

“They’re not a luxury. They’re a lifeline,” foot-ferry regular Lisa Curzon said at the public meeting.

Some worry the larger foot-ferry increase might force some regulars onto the Bremerton car ferries--already near capacity for walk-ons at 1,200 or 2,500, depending on the boat.

“I don’t think they realize just how many people use the ferries,” said Stacy Flashey, 35, of Port Orchard, who works for an insurance company in Seattle.

Housing is more affordable across the Sound. “I wouldn’t even consider buying in Seattle,” she said.

At the meetings, ferry riders offered a range of suggestions--personnel cuts, eliminating underused runs, tapping lottery revenues. Some suggested selling “naming rights” for ferry-fleet vessels or collecting tolls on heavily traveled Interstate 5 or bridges that serve the region’s high-tech enclave east of Seattle.

Although the high-tech boom has drowned the region in prosperity, the commuter runs have remained a bargain--$2.50 to $3.70 round trip for walk-on passengers, who are charged as they head out from Seattle. Returning is free.

Even if all fare increases are approved, the system would still be operating at a loss. Lawmakers are being asked to come up with additional state and federal funds, and union ferry workers are urged to help streamline the operation.

Most commuters, though, will adapt.

“It beats swimming,” said Michael Whiteside, 35, of Port Orchard, who works construction in Seattle. “And it beats that three-hour drive.”