By VICKIE MERCER

According to a recent article in The Beachcomber, Washington State Transportation Commissioner Bob Distler thinks commuting on one of our state-run ferries is akin to attending a theater performance (“Could ferry riders lose frequent-user discounts?,” Feb. 6). Distler, the one member of the commission who lives on an island (in his case, the San Juans), was quoted as saying that the Washington State Ferries (WSF) should charge higher fares during peak hours, just as a theater charges more for Friday night performances.

This approach, called congestion or peak-time pricing, would not simply get rid of the frequent-user discounts many Islanders have come to depend on. It would also mean even higher fares for all those Islanders who, out of necessity, take the ferries during peak hours. In other words, if you commute to work each day, you’d pay more than those who take the ferry at noon to go to a doctor’s appointment.

His comments are an outrage. And because he’s a member of the commission that sets ferry fares, we ­— all of us on Vashon — should take note, understand the direction he’s trying to take the ferry system in and fight back. Do we not all have a right to basic transportation at all times of the day? Since when do we on Vashon have an alternative? Are we going back to the absurd question, “Why would anyone want to live on an Island?” — as asked of me by former Transportation Commissioner Ruth Fisher a couple years ago? Because it is my home, and the state accepted responsibility to provide transportation for each of us to have access to it, not just the rich.

Last spring, Ray Deardorf, WSF’s director of planning, in an attempt to justify further ferry fare hikes, said the average household income of Islanders riding the ferry was $96,000. According to Claritas Inc. for Vashon College in June 2007 the estimated 2005 median household income for Vashon is $64,341. Could WSF’s number be skewed because those Islanders who live below the poverty line can no longer afford to ride the ferries, as Yvonne Pitrof, the executive director of the Vashon Maury Community Food Bank, has pointed out?

It has been a rough winter for Vashon commuters, what with the loss of a ferry and the implementation of a two-boat schedule. But let’s not forget the bigger picture: Since 2001 WSF has cut service to Vashon by 18 percent, with ridership down only on our Tahlequah-Pt. Defiance route and Vashon to Southworth routes. This decline in service has come at the same time as another significant shift on the Island: With the closing of Seattle’s Best Coffee and K2 Sports, there are fewer on-Island jobs, and more and more Islanders have been forced to commute off-Island for work.

Now, the Cedar River Group, a Seattle-based private consultant hired by the Transportation Commission, is recommending that the commission, the Legislature and the governor implement congestion pricing so that the state can reduce overloads and not have to build more boats. I thought the boats needed to be replaced due to an aging fleet anyway. Why not coincide the replacement of aging vessels with a restoration of our service and thus accommodate the added commuters due to our on-Island job losses?

Don’t be fooled when WSF planners and our legislators say there is no money for adding (the word should be “restoring”) service. They have had no trouble finding $10 million dollars over the last six years to study and study again how to “fix” our problems. Seems that the measly $865,000 to restore Tahlequah service or to resume our always full 10:50 p.m. Fauntleroy run on weekends wouldn’t be hard to find after King County takes over the passenger-only service in July 2009.

WSF and the state want us to get out of our cars. But where do we put them when our parking lots are at 160 percent capacity? The Vashon Maury Community Council’s Transportation Committee has been calling for more parking around the north-end dock for more than two years, and there has been no progress. Could that also be coming with the new King County passenger-only service? Would seem logical but there are no plans forthcoming. How about a toll free bus zone north of Vashon town to encourage leaving a car at home to save money by not building a new park-and-ride lot at $20,000 per parking spot? That could pay for a lot of bus riding.

Many more Island residents need to get engaged in working with our lawmakers to fix the “broken” WSF system, as Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, calls it. There are several important issues hanging in the balance, issues that will either make life on this Island even more expensive or, perhaps, a little more affordable. It’s time that we make our voices heard. It’s time that we let the state know that the ferry service, like our highway system, is not a luxury for those with money but a lifeline to jobs, doctor appointments and other necessities.

— Vickie Mercer is an Islander active on ferry issues.

More information

For further information contact Kari Ulatoski, chair of the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s Transportation Committee, at kulatoski@centurytel.net.