It was the public’s turn on Monday to hear about Kitsap Transit’s plans to bring fast foot ferry service back to Bremerton.
And some of them told Kitsap Transit that they needed to do a better job of marketing the idea.
“Look around,” said Jamie Forsyth, a Bremerton resident. “This room should be full. Why are there so few people here? Your outreach is not very good. People didn’t know about this meeting.”
About 20 people attend the 90 minute meeting Monday at the Kitsap Conference Center. They were told that the service could be in operation in Bremerton as soon as the fall of 2015.
But in order for that to happen, funding has to be secured, and could mean a sales tax increase that voters would have to approve.
After a presentation by Kitsap Transit officials and consultants, a few questions were asked, most of them dealing with funding for the fast foot ferry. Several people said they didn’t want their property taxes to increase to fund the service.
Others said they thought the foot ferry system needed to have guaranteed reservations or else it would’t work.
Addressing the funding, Kitsap Transit Executive Director John Clausen said property taxes aren’t among the funding options
“We have only two options and those are increasing the sales tax or using the motor vehicle excise tax,” he said. “That’s all the legislature has allowed for us because we are operating at a Public Transportation Benefit District.”
What has been discussed is a two-tenths of one percent increase in sales tax, which would have to be approved by voters before taking affect.
And Clausen also assured those attending that any fast foot ferry program would include the option of reservations.
“We used that when we had the trial run in 2012 and we have that ability,” he said.
Aaron Matthews, of Port Orchard, said reservations are needed to guarantee that he would get a seat on the boat and get to work on time.
“I’m here because my intent is to use the ferry system,” he said. “I moved to Port Orchard because I didn’t want to live in Seattle. But I work in Seattle.
“If a fast foot ferry is available, I’ll pay the extra to use it instead of the regular (car) ferry. But if I’m going to pay extra, I need to know that I will get on it everyday. Otherwise I’m wasting money.”
Monday’s meeting on passenger-only ferries between Bremerton and Seattle, followed an-invitation only meeting earlier this month where 100 civic and community leaders were briefed on the plans.
Consultants from KPFF Consulting Engineers repeated their presentation at the public meeting this week. Plans include adding three foot ferry routes in Kitsap County. Routes include from Bremerton to Seattle, Kingston to Seattle and Southworth to Seattle. Each would run about 30 to 35 minutes and each route would have three roundtrips during the morning and afternoon commutes.
Mike Anderson, consultant for KPFF and the former Washington State ferries director, recommended that the routes from Kitsap County to Seattle be phased in. Anderson also said that Kitsap Transit should own the service and contract with King County that already operates foot ferry routes to run it.
KPFF was hired last April at a cost of $300,000 to prepare a comprehensive business plan and long-range strategy for a fast foot ferry.
Costs are expected to be $44 million to set up the Kitsap Transit service and about $8 million a year to run it. The upfront costs would be paid from mostly federal transportation grants. Operation costs would need to come from local sales or excise taxes because fees for service will not cover the costs.
Clausen acknowledged that the public meeting was put together hastily. But he said, he was trying to get public input prior to the holidays and prior to the Kitsap Transit board of directors January meeting where they will consider whether to go forward with plans for a fast foot ferry system.
“We always have a challenge about how to get the word out,” he said.
If the paln goes forward, the routes would use boats similar to the one used in the trials in 2012.
The 118-passenger Rich Passage 1 ran test trials from June to November 2012 that showed it could travel at 37 knots (42.5 miles) per hour without damaging the shoreline. The vessel has since been in storage, waiting to be put into service.
Eventually, three Rich Passage ferries would be needed as all routes are put into service, Anderson said.
The Bremerton route would get service first – as soon as October 2015 — because it has a boat and a dock ready to go.
Following that, Kingston would be added in the fall of 2017 and then Southworth in 2023, after construction of a passenger terminal because there is not one currently at there.
The transit board is expected to decide in January whether it wants to place a tax increase on an upcoming ballot, possibly in February or next August. Similar sales-tax based efforts failed in 2003 and 2007. A final report by the consultants will be published and posted on the Kitsap Transit website later this month.
