Appleton's ferry-fixes funded in final transportation budget

Agreed-to House/Senate budget ends "lockout," directs WSF to consider frequent-rider fare cuts

March 11, 2008

Olympia -- A pair of measures designed to make commuting by ferry more affordable are included in the supplemental transportation budget announced yesterday (Mon., Mar. 10) by state House and Senate negotiators.

Based on legislation introduced in the House this year by state Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo) and co-sponsored by Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) and other West Sound lawmakers, the agreed-to budget provisos direct the Department of Transportation to:

• end the practice known as "lock-out," which has prevented two drivers traveling together to use the same fare card; and

• consider discounts for frequent ferry-riders. 

"These are two significant victories for ferry commuters," Appleton said.  "It's about time; Kitsap commuters and others who use the marine highway every day are the backbone of the ferry system, and we haven't had enough good news lately."

Lock-out has been a particularly troublesome problem for families, she said.  The typical lock-out situation occurs when a family group traveling in two cars wants to pay both fares with one card.  Under current Washington State Ferries (WSF) rules, a card used once could not be used again for 30 minutes.  This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for both vehicles to board the same boat for the same run. 

"We've seen the last of that," Appleton said.  "I understand the rationale behind the policy, but the fact is, it's a bad idea.  We wouldn't split up a family traveling in two cars on I-5 and delay one of them by a half-hour.  We wouldn't park one while the other crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  Well, we're no longer going to inconvenience ferry riders that way, either."

The other proviso in the supplemental transportation budget restores the likelihood of frequent-user discounts, nearly a year after a 2007 law relieved DOT and the Commission from the responsibility of factoring discounts into their planning.  Appleton estimated that without the frequent-user discount, a family currently paying $4500 annually for a five-day-a-week cross-sound commute would see that figure jump to $6000 if the discount was off the table when the current fare-freeze expired in September 2009.

"That's simply not acceptable," she said.  "Even the current discounted fare is at the upper limit of what a middle-income family can bear; it's imperative that the ferry system keeps this in mind when designing a fare structure."

Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the supplemental transportation budget, along with adjustments to the biennial operating and capital budgets, when they reach her desk.  The Legislature is set to adjourn for the year Thursday, March 13.