Page 33: of Marine News Magazine (January 2016)

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FERRIES & PASSENGER VESSELS

Humpback whale breaching next to state ferry in San Juan Island.

ferries cover 10 routes and 20 terminals. WSF operations serve 60 percent of the state’s population, about four mil- lion people. It should therefore come as no surprise that

WSF is the largest ferry system in the United States.

Voters may not have had long-term effects on ferries on their minds in 1999 when they repealed the Motor Vehicle

Excise Tax (“car tabs”), taxes reserved for transportation and ferry operations since 1937. Ferries lost 20 percent of operating costs and 75 percent of capital funding. Hence, in the choppy wake for that questionable voter edict, WSF quickly found itself raising tolls and fees. Given higher tolls and service cutbacks, ridership sank from its peak of 27 million trips in 1999 to 22.6 million trips in 2010.

In 2007, a second blow came in the form of the over- night removal of four 80-year-old Steel Electric Class fer- ries. When tests showed that the hulls were dangerously corroded, transportation secretary Lynn Peterson pulled

Photo: Justine Buckmaster them from service that day. The ferry system ran very lean for the ? ve years it took to replace them. shipyards little year-to-year certainty about new builds and In the rush to replace those very old ferries, WSF botched set the stage for high-pro? le negative publicity. building decisions for the ? rst new replacement. WSF decided to use a preexisting ferry design from the Island

Ferry Funding Fractured Home, which runs between Martha’s Vineyard and Woods

Iconic green-and-white WSF ferries are the state’s single Hole, Mass. A 2013 state audit found that change orders biggest tourist attraction. They’re also transportation for caused the ? rst replacement ferry, the Chetzemoka, to end everyone from Bainbridge Island-to-Seattle commuters to up costing almost twice as much as the Island Home.

long-haul truckers to personnel at the six naval installa- Nevertheless, the legislature funded new 144-car Olym- tions around Puget Sound. As a “marine highway system,” pic Class ferries built by Vigor in Seattle, with superstruc- ferries connect the mainland to the Olympic Peninsula ture built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey and to highly populated islands in Puget Sound. WSF’s 24 Island. The ? rst, the Tokitae, was ? nished in 2014.

WSF Ferries Built Since 1991 … by the numbers

Class Capacity (Pass. / Vehicles Name Built (*)

Jumbo Mark II 2,500 / 202 Tacoma 1997

Jumbo Mark II 2,500 / 202 Wenatchee 1998

Jumbo Mark II 2,500 / 202 Puyallup 1999

Kwa-di Tabil 750 / 64 Chetzemoka 2010

Kwa-di Tabil 750 / 64 Salish 2011

Kwa-di Tabil 750 / 64 Kennewick 2012

Olympic 1,500 / 144 Tokitae 2014

Olympic 1,500 / 144 Samish 2015

Olympic 1,500 / 144 Chimacum 2017 (*)

Source: WSF / (*) under construction

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