In the past several years residents on our ferry-dependent Island have faced considerable transportation uncertainty. We’ve been threatened with the loss of the passenger-only ferry, have faced the reality of no increase in bus service on or off Island and have been confronted with the prospect of a crippling two-vessel ferry schedule on the north end due to a lack of backup vessels of adequate size.

An upcoming meeting with the King County Ferry District and Metro will give us an opportunity to discuss these issues and might give us a better idea of what transportation services will be like in the next several years.

In April, the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s Transportation Committee began a dialogue with King County regarding Vashon’s transportation needs. We were surprised to find out that Vashon has the most expensive bus route in the county! Consider that those buses have to pay the oversize vehicle charge every time they use the ferry. We also discussed the situation around the passenger-only boat, now operated by the King County Ferry District. It concerned us that some of the taxes earmarked for the ferry district — money that was to go towards an expansion to different routes in King County — were diverted to Metro due to the bitter campaign for King County Executive and Metro’s financial crisis.

In early summer, the committee met with other representatives from King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office, including the county’s lobbyist, to discuss our concerns regarding Washington State Ferry service, Metro and the passenger-only boat.

As those who follow WSF know, we’re facing a challenging ferry future. No funding is currently in the budget to build vessels of adequate capacity to serve our triangle run; in fact, 97 percent of all ferry routes are, like Vashon, vulnerable because of a lack of back-up vessels of adequate size. Indeed, even if the state were to suddenly decide to fund additional vessel-construction, the earliest possible relief would be around 2014 to 2016. Vashon is vulnerable under this current scenario: At any time, we could be relegated to a long-term two-ferry schedule on the north end, leaving at least 250 cars on the docks each morning. If the Issaquah were pulled from dedicated Vashon morning service, we would lose between 25 to 56 percent of our capacity. Southworth’s situation would be even worse.

Vashon residents have an opportunity to talk with the county about what steps can be taken to mitigate the hardships of a two-vessel schedule.

We also have the opportunity to find out more about:

Why is Vashon the most expensive Metro route in King County and what happened to the tax increase for the King County Ferry District?

Would it be possible to have a small Metro maintenance bay on the Island and expand service to include limited Sunday runs?

Will Vashon’s Water Taxi service continue? What is the plan to address overloads? Will there be expansion of service to mitigate the effects of viaduct construction?

We have an opportunity to talk with our King County Council Representative Jan Drago, plus representatives from Metro and the King County Marine Division and Ferry District on September 23rd. Let’s make the most of it.

— Kari Ulatoski chairs the Island’s Transportation Committee.