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Transportation Commission approves
2.5 percent ferry fare increase
By Sharon Kivisto
Anne Sheridan told the state Transportation Commissioners islanders were concerned about the impact increasing fares were having on the ability of working families to continue to live in the San Juan Islands.
updated 03/23/2007 posted 2:56 p.m. 03/22/2007
The state Transportation Commission voted to increase ferry fares 2.5 percent beginning in May 2007. The commission had proposed a 4 percent increase at the round of public hearings held throughout the service area during the past six weeks. Petitions, lobbying and pressure from legislators resulted in the change which means $3 million less for ferries in this biennium and $60 million in the sixteen-year planning period.
Transportation Commissioner and Orcas Island resident Robert Distler voted for the measure, although he had reservations. "We owe the legistlature a full period to implement the ferry finance study," he said. "This session did not achieve it."
The ferry system faces approximately a $50 million shortfall this year and another $50 million next year. The ferry system used to receive funding from the motor vehicle excise tax (MVET). That funding source was removed by the legislature in 1999 and has not been replaced.
The state House of Representatives has put together a bill regarding ferries which has a hearing scheduled for Monday, March 26. It does not include a sustainable funding source. The Senate Bill will be released Tuesday, March 27.
Chair of the Tariff Policy Committee Alice Tawresey was worried about the House bill which calls for a "fare box recovery method of tariffs." She said, "It will bring one route into rivalry against another. It would be a negative. We have to think of the ferries as a system."
She gave a brief history of the TPC and its purpose. The committee made the rules by which the rates were set. Route equity was created by the TPC. "You pay for how long you are on the deck of the ferry," she said. "Similar to a parking lot, you pay for how long you stay there."
As for the disbanding of the TPC, Tawresey said the committee has done its job creating policy and lacks tools to do anything else. Referring to ferry fares she said, "There was nothing we could set that would come near balancing a budget. Since we were told we had to accept that budget, we felt we had to and let the chips fall where it should on the governor and the legislature." (Gov. Gregoire's budget has a ferry fare increase of 2.5 percent.)
Before the public hearing part of the meeting began, the commissioners listened to a summary of the public outreach discussions held in February. Nearly 400 people attended overall. Lopez Island had the most people in attendance. There were 271 comments received via email, letter, fax or telephone. The level was higher than 2002, 2003 and 2006 but substantially lower than 2001 and 2005.
Distler made a few comments before the public hearing began. "The condition of the ferry system is not good," he said. "In my view the financial underpinnings
are in worse shape. Everyone in this room, everyone is dependent on ferries, it is not just the people who live on islands who are more dependent, we are all dependent on a ferry system which is in trouble...Various ideas have been bandied about. What is
missing are dollar signs."
People from Friday Harbor, Kingston, Bainbridge, Jefferson County, Vashon and Port Townsend spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.
WSF has two big problems according to Dick Faulkenberry - not enough room for drive-ons and not enough revenue. The way to resolve both is a deposit fare. For example, offer a $4 walk-on fare with $3 refundable if the customer purchased $3 worth of items onboard. If the rider bought $3 worth of food, WSF would get to keep $1 of the $4 fare and would return $3 to the customer.
The food vendor would do more business and theoretically the food service would improve because of the increased volume, Faulkenberry said. WSF's customer base would increase and vehicle space would be freed up.
"These increases are really hurting our community....It all adds up...it's had a significant impact on our business community, on diversity, on the ability of working people to live there," said a woman from Vashon Island.
Walter Elliot the co-chair of the executive committe of the Ferry Advisory Committees said, "Hold on to the 2.5 percent or freeze the fares as considered by the legislature. The (fare box recovery rate) is higher than 99 percent of transportation systems. I urge you to go to the legislature and request they establish a stable source of funding. It is essential for stable communities." Most transit systems recover about 35 percent of their costs through fares. The rest of the costs are subsidized.
One of the transportation commissioners suggested it would be important for people to decide if they considered the ferries part of the state highway system or if they considered WSF a transit system. People were labeling it both things in testimony.
Other testimony related to the reservation system proposed for the Port Townsend/Keystone ferry route. The ferry financing study called for WSF to try out a reservation system. A $10 fee on top of the ferry fare for the reservation was opposed by the people commenting on the idea.
Tim Caldwell, the general manager of the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce said, "I believe the pilot program will provide information important for future planning. I believe a fee would be detrimental to gathering data."
The commission voted to drop the fee. As it now stands, there would be no fee to reserve a space. WSF staff will have to determine if it is possible to put together the program with no funding available for it.
Anne Sheridan of Friday Harbor presented a copy of the petition signed by more than 3,000 islanders calling for a 2.5 percent ferry fare increase, a sustainable source of funding for ferries, no charge for reservations and an economic study of the impact of the previous fare increases on San Juan County's economy. As she spoke, audience members held up signs in support of various points. They did the same thing for other speakers.
After the speakers were finished, the transportation commissioners discussed a motion to consider a 2.5 percent ferry fare increase. State Transportation Commissioner Elmira Forner said, "I am not going to support this. This whole issue is the forgotten stepchild. It goes back a long long way. I am not going to vote again for something that doesn't solve problem. We have no tools and no direction. It is frustrating for you and it is frustrating to me and to the department. We have to keep going back to the legislature. We represent the whole state.
"Guess what, if you (WSF) don't meet the obligation of your budget, it comes out of the Dept. of Transportation budget. Out of the $60.6 billion state budget, 9 percent is for transportation. It'll either come out of your capital budget, or out of someone else's project.
"Transportation has a very, very narrow stream of budget. That's why we did the Tolling study and the Rail Study.
"I will not support saying 2.5 percent. I will not jeopardize other people's projects."
The vote was 5-2 for the 2.5 percent ferry fare. Forner and Edward Barnes voted no. If the state legislature does not come up with funding to cover the shortfall, the only other available source is WSF's capital budget.
Distler said, "The latest information from Washington State Ferries is the 16-year budget under the 2.5 increase is $766 million out of balance."
Asked for her thoughts after the vote, Sheridan said, "I am very encouraged that our collaborative process lobbying for a the 2.5% fare increase and sustainable ferry funding was rewarded, although viable long-term solutions still must be created. The concerns of San Juan county residents have been clearly heard in concert with those of
other ferry dependent communities, and there is growing momentum for
consensus building between these communities working towards more
permanent solutions for sustainable ferry funding. Perseverance
furthers!"
San Juan County Councilmember Kevin Ranker has been in Olympia weekly talking with members of the governor's staff and legislators about ferry issues. Contacted by phone after the meeting, he said. "This is an excellent example of what we can achieve when we stand together as a community...but, we must recognize that this is a bitter-sweet victory, we can not sit on our hands and relax. We must work with our state leaders to develop a long-term solution to address the shortfall so that we are not here again in two years."
State Transportation Commission to hold public hearing on ferry fares
posted 03/20/2007
The Washington State Transportation Commission will hold a public hearing in Seattle on a proposal to increase ferry fares, make adjustments to the way oversize vehicle fares are calculated during peak season, launch a reservation pilot project on the Port Townsend-Keystone route, and extend a pilot project that gives discounts to in-need organizations.
The hearing will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 22, at the Puget Sound Regional Council Boardroom, 5th Floor, 1011 Western Avenue, in Seattle. A representative of Washington State Ferries (WSF) and the Tariff Policy Committee will start the hearing with a briefing on the 11 public outreach meetings held throughout the Puget Sound during February and early March. A public comment period is scheduled to begin at 1:20 p.m., after which, the Transportation Commission may consider adopting all, part, or none of the recommendations.
This 2007 Fare Proposal is based in part on recommendations from the Tariff Policy Committee. It continues to implement the fare policy component of WSF’s Financial Plan, and takes steps towards meeting the legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee recommendations regarding fare-setting policies, including the study of a reservation system as a way of managing peak hour travel demands.
The 2007 fare proposal under consideration by the Commission is outlined below:
- A general fare increase of four percent is proposed and would go into effect on May 1, 2007, with all fares rounded to the next nickel. In addition, WSF would continue the phased implementation of Tariff Route Equity (which determines rates based on route distance) in the San Juan Islands.
- A technical adjustment would be made to the method of calculating oversize vehicle fares during peak season.
- A pilot program would be established by summer 2007 that would offer reservations on the Port Townsend-Keystone route for an additional charge, based on vehicle length.
- Holders of monthly passes that are purchased as part of the regional SmartCard program would be allowed unlimited use. Monthly passes purchased through the Electronic Fare System would retain their current monthly usage limits.
- A discount program for in-need organizations would be extended for one year since it has not been fully implemented. The current pilot program was established on May 1, 2006, with continuation beyond May 1, 2007 subject to Transportation Commission review and possible modification.
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