The King County Council recently expanded potential transportation options for county residents by creating a King County Ferry District.
Passenger-only ferry service to South Puget Sound and Vashon Island, or across Lake Washington to the Eastside, could be operated by the ferry district.
"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 Councilman Dow Constantine, D-West Seattle, the legislation's prime sponsor.
"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."
Potential destinations for this service include Des Moines, West Seattle, downtown Seattle, Magnolia, Shilshole, Lake Union, Shoreline, and North Renton.
Depending on the results of a feasibility study for passenger-only ferry service for South Puget Sound, additional service could link King County communities with Gig Harbor and Tacoma.
"Waterborne options are as much a part of the transportation system as any bus or road, and we need to start looking at ways to expand those options throughout the region," said Councilwoman Julia Patterson, D-SeaTac.
"People tend to focus on options for Vashon or Lake Washington, but there have been studies looking at running ferry service from Des Moines to north Pierce County into Tacoma. The ferry district would have a role on seeing if such a route is feasible."
In 2003, the Legislature granted counties the authority to fund local ferry districts receive funding a property tax levy.
The King County Ferry District will refine costs and schedules in anticipation of setting a property tax rate later this year sufficient to provide the services decided upon.
State and federal funds already have been allocated to construct new dock facilities in West Seattle and Vashon. Proceeds from the sale of the state's current passenger-only ferries, estimated at more than $5 million, have been pledged to the governmental entity that assumes Vashon service.
