State panel approves increase in ferry fare

Fri., March 23, 2007

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

SEATTLE – It’s going to be more expensive to ride a Washington state ferry in the future, but not as expensive as was proposed earlier by the state Transportation Commission.

The seven-member commission met and approved an increase of 2.5 percent for ferry fares, backing away from a 4 percent rate increase proposed earlier.

Ferry fares went up 6 percent last year and Thursday’s increase was the lowest since 2001.

Because some of the vessels and terminals are aging, commission Chairman Johnny Cope said he was concerned about the ferry system having money to buy new vessels and keep its facilities in shape to serve what’s expected to be a growing market.

But the Washington citizens who travel regularly by water still protested at the commission meeting.

“We need to tell the Legislature it’s time to find a stable funding source for ferries,” Port Townsend resident Peter Bonyun said.

Walter Elliott, on the executive board of the state’s Ferry Advisory Committee, called on lawmakers in Olympia to establish a stable tax base for ferries. He said the fare-box recovery rate of 76 percent is higher than 99 percent of all other transit systems in the nation.

The increase will mean peak season fares, from May 1 through early October, will be $14.45 each way for a car and a driver on the Seattle to Bremerton, Edmonds to Kingston and Seattle to Bainbridge Island routes. The regular non-peak passenger fares will rise to $6.70, from $6.50.

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