The Elliott Bay Water Taxi and the Metro shuttles from the dock to Alki, Admiral and the Junction will be permanent and year around under the King County Ferry District approved last week by the Metropolitan King County Council.

A newly revised state law permits the county to levy and use locally general property taxes to finance walk-on ferries only, the state has a curb on the auto ferry business. A penny in King County would raise $2.5 million, Constantine said.

"With the impending replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the State Route 520 Bridge, we must seize this opportunity to use our open waters to get people out of gridlock," said West Seattle Councilmember Dow Constantine, prime sponsor of the legislation. "Passenger-only waterborne transit already serves an important role in San Francisco and Vancouver B.C., and has proven successful here on the Vashon and Elliott Bay routes."

State and federal funds have already been allocated to construct new dock facilities in West Seattle and Vashon. The proceeds from the sale of the state's current passenger-only ferries, estimated at more than $5 million, have also been pledged to the governmental entity that assumes Vashon service.

The Elliott Bay Water Taxi is paying for about 44 percent of its annual cost, or 30 percent to 33 percent if you include the shuttle buses.

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is pushing for the northern half of Jack Block Park to be used for a walk-on ferry dock, replacing the current "temporary" dock at Seacrest Park near Duwamish Head. There are about 500 parking places there that are largely unused during workdays and underused at almost all times, said Patti Mullen, executive director of the chamber.

"We also have a dream about a large area south of the parking area, formerly a landfill capped and contamination controlled," Mullen said last week.

That property, known as the "CEM" parcel is owned by the Port of Seattle and can be located as behind the high sand piles along Harbor Drive near the West Seattle Bridge exit/entrance. The port has indicated it wants a partner with "technical expertise" to develop it.

"One of our dreams is to get a mixed use development that could work with a ferry dock and parking area," Mullen said.

Constantine says the county will be able to levy property taxes to finance foot ferries, like the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, and be able to take over the foot ferry now serving Vashon Island and Southworth in Kitsap County, run by the state.

County Councilmember Larry Phillips, who represents Ballard, Queen Anne and Magnolia, speculates on a ferry running from Shilshole Marina to the downtown waterfront, a trip he says would take about 25 minutes.

Others talk about routes across Lake Washington while a new 520 bridge is built, but such cross lake routes have been dreamed of for years, but usually fade when costs are considered. Constantine and Phillips say the huge costs of Viaduct repairs or replacement, the 520 bridge and other projects is forcing a new look at such innovations.

The first ferries will be paid for partly with money the state will receive by selling mothballed fast ferries taken out of service a couple of years ago when funds were unavailable.

"There are newer, faster, quieter foot ferries that do not churn up property damaging wakes in restricted areas as the ones the state used and still has mothballed," said Constantine. The property tax levy will be added to buy the new passenger ferries, he said. Perhaps at some time in the future, federal money could be leveraged, he noted.

"The small tax levy is cheap when you consider keeping thousands of cars off the West Seattle Bridge and Highway 99," Constantine said.

The new ferry district would support conduct feasibility studies of future routes; and establish a modest capital fund for better boats and dock facilities. Other potential destinations that could be served include West Seattle, Des Moines, downtown Seattle, North Bay, Magnolia, Shilshole, Shoreline, Lake Union, North Renton, and Kenmore. Depending on the results of a potential feasibility study for passenger-only ferry service for South Puget Sound, additional service could be developed linking King County with Gig Harbor and Tacoma.

Waterways such as Puget Sound and Lake Washington served as the first major transportation routes in the area. King County began operating seasonal water taxi service across Elliott Bay in 1997, a service that by 2006 carried a record-high 122,000 passengers between West Seattle and Pier 55.

Jack Mayne may be reached via jmayne@robinsonnews.com