Kirkland – Seattle passenger ferry service may start as early as 2009-2010
Nearly a century after a “Mosquito Fleet” of small boats linked the communities that ring Lake Washington and Puget Sound, a new King County Ferry District is up and running to operate Vashon passenger-only ferry service, year-round operation of the popular Water Taxi, and begin development of five demonstration routes. The official web site for the King County Ferry District is full of good information.
Last night at the Norkirk Neighborhood meeting at Heritage Hall, a representative of the King County Ferry District stopped by to introduce the program. The audience included Mayor Jim Lauinger and Councilmembers Mary-Alyce Burleigh and Jessica Greenway.
Here are some notes from the presentation:
• The King County Ferry District (KCFD) currently operates two routes: Vashon and Elliot Bay Water Taxi;
• Plans are in order for 5 demonstration routes: Kirkland, Kenmore, Renton, Ballard, Des Moines;
• Demonstration routes will likely be launched starting late 2009 or early 2010 and the is plan is to bring one city online each year. Service on demonstration routes use leased boats and will last for two years, with the purpose of measuring potential ridership while minimizing capital expenses;
• The likely Kirkland route would be from Marina Park (where the Argosy boat docks) to The University of Washington. Trips to South Lake Union would take too long given the long stretch on “no wake” water through the Montlake cut;
• Each ferry would hold a maximum of 150 passengers and the initial plan is for 2 ferry trips departing each morning and two each evening – passenger only and bike friendly;
• Funding for the ferry service is already in place: a property tax of $22 per $400,000 in assessed value. Concessions and advertising are also planned to augment revenues;
• Fare box recovery for the ferries is projected to be 40%. This compares favorably with Metro’s dismal 20% of cost recovery from rider fees;
• The travel time to the UW is about 22 minutes, when you include boarding time it makes the cross-lake trip about 30 minutes;
• Parking (rather lack thereof) is the number one issue in Kirkland. The KCFD has funds to provide shuttle vans to and from the dock which would make the plan better suited to Kirkland’s needs.
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4 Responses to “Kirkland – Seattle passenger ferry service may start as early as 2009-2010”
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"Houghton Beach by KirklandViews.com"
This is a great opportunity to build traffic and business into downtown, if only we had the parking. Instead, people will be wisked away to Park & Rides. Why not take the opportunity to build additional parking into the Parkplace Project to accomodate the Ferry riders and encourage them to dine and shop in Kirkland coming and going?
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I agree Cami. A good change for the city would be partnerships with private property owners to build extra parking when they plan buildings. This would prevent building an ugly parking garage somewhere in our downtown. Ferry passengers should not be shuttled off to park and rides because if they are Kirkland does not get the hope of extra business from passengers.
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This is no solution for traffic congestion on the bridge because the number of cars it will take off the road in tiny. The best use is for tourism. If you work at the UW then you will get your money’s worth from that $22 in property taxes.
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Cami. That’s a great idea. CRD already wants an additional 2,000 spaces at Parkplace for the workers, so how many more do you want for the ferry? C’mon, Get real! Cars and parking are NOT the answer here. Please have some vision. Instead of thinking of Kirkland as a place people are leaving FROM, think about it as a place where people are coming TO. Think about people using the ferry as a way to commute TO Kirkland for the NEW jobs and NEW retail that will be created by Parkplace. It’s a great little walk to Parkplace from where the terminal will be. Imagine stepping off the ferry, walking and shopping along Park Lane, having the opportunity to use the new transit center, or continuing up through the Park to Parkplace. That’s a real PEDESTRIAN-ORIENTED experience.
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