Mayor: Foot ferries are Kitsap County’s Bertha
Feb 17, 2016, 7:03 AM | Updated: 1:52 pm
The replacement ferry has a capacity of only 90 vehicles instead of the usual 124 on Kitsap, but the passenger capacity is the same. (Stephanie Klein/MyNorthwest)
(Stephanie Klein/MyNorthwest)
Foot ferries could return to the Puget Sound, after the a transit board met Tuesday to discuss their revival.
The Kitsap Transit Board of Commissioners voted to move forward with the plan that would bring high-speed ferry routes from Seattle to Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth.
According to the plan, it would take about 30 minutes to get to Seattle on the foot ferries.
Related: Shockingly bad, expensive King County foot-ferry idea
It’s an idea that has been tried, and failed. Passenger-only ferry service to Seattle has been attempted twice in Kingston, but ridership was too low for such an expensive venture. Washington State Ferries operated a popular service from Bremerton to Seattle, but the service was cut because of lost funding and a lawsuit. Kitsap Transit has made two unsuccessful attempts at paying for its own service.
Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson told KIRO 7 the foot ferries are the wrong direction to go.
“It’s Kitsap County’s Bertha,” she said. “Which means that it’s not well vetted from a technological standpoint and it’s hugely expensive.”
The Kitsap Transit board will meet next month to decide whether to ask voters to fund the foot ferries.
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