Our ferries are wonderful experiences for kids on school outings. But we didn’t enter into a marriage with a fleet of expensive ferries for that purpose.

They were supposed to provide safe, efficient, low-cost transportation across Puget Sound. When they cease to do that, it’s only natural to ask: Is it time for a divorce?

At this point a much better question is why the ferry system has lasted this long. And the answer is simple — politics.

You’re being told that there are just two options to fix the current mess. Option 1 will result in a $3.5 billion capital budget deficit. Option 2 will result in a $4.7 billion capital budget deficit — and pared—down service, especially on the Bremerton–Seattle route.

There are two essential factors driving the cost of ferry service — acquisition costs and operating-and-maintenance (O&M) costs.

In 1992 a jumbo ferry cost $66 million and the O&M costs were $840 per hour.

The last time I looked, a Mark 2 jumbo cost about $83 million and it took roughly $1,000 per hour to keep it running.

It’s probably even higher today.

The message is clear — these giants aren’t cheap, and they aren’t going to get any cheaper.

The only alternative today is to drive around. But that’s a long trip.

Then there’s the risk of a collision on the incredibly dangerous State Route 16 and Interstate 5 corridors, which could cost a great deal more than time and gasoline.

In fact, it already does cost more, in the insurance premiums we all have to pay to drive in this transportation nightmare.

And if the price of gasoline ever gets back up toward $4 per gallon, which I’m sure is just a matter of time, it could get very expensive – again.

In 1992 we spent $1.4 million on a study to tell us what to do about this situation. Booz-Allen & Hamilton made some recommendations that would have revolutionized travel on both sides of the Sound.

Most of them involved building bridges. Then the Economic Development Council came into being in 1993, and since then nothing has been done.

No, nothing.

Today they are predicting huge losses and asking you to accept their enormous deficits as a way of life.

I say there is a better way.

• • •

Randy Boss, a resident of Gig Harbor, has been quietly working to get the state authorities to back a concept that was proposed by the Cross-Sound Coalition, a now-defunct organization, to solve this problem.

It involved constructing a Submerged Floating Tunnel (SFT) from Burien to Vashon Island, a suspension bridge from Vashon to the Kitsap Peninsula and a four- or six-lane highway linking the Mullenix corridor to SR-16 and SR-3.

The SFT and suspension bridge would be constructed at no cost to the state or county. Construction costs would be paid for by a new funding concept known as the Transportation Innovative Partnership Program, or TIPP, which replaces the old Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program used to build the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Under TIPP, the project would be paid for by the contractor(s), who would then recoup their costs by levying tolls.

The costs associated with the expansion of the arterials at either end would be borne by the state and/or the local governments.

Our share would be the cost of widening Mullenix to a highway that would connect with SR-16 and SR-3.

The current cost of a one-way ferry trip from Bremerton to Seattle is $11.55, unless you’re traveling during the rush hour, which would push it up to $14.45 each way.

And of course the boats don’t run overnight.

The trip via an SFT could be made 24/7, would take six to nine minutes each way, instead of the current 60 to 90 minutes, and would cost about $12 – over and back.

• • •

Twenty-sixth District State Sen. Derek Kilmer (D- Gig Harbor) and State Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) have both expressed highly negative reactions to Boss’s concept. Newly elected State Rep. Jan Angel (R-Port Orchard) was unavailable for comment.

The SFT concept would eliminate the enormous budget deficits, retire much of the aging and expensive fleet of ferries and provide a much-needed solution to a problem that’s getting worse with each passing month.

If we’re married to the ferry system, maybe it’s time to consider a divorce.

Bill Bambrick is a Port Orchard resident.