||| FROM KING-TV|||
Seattle’s Pier 50 starts bustling just before 5:30 a.m. ahead of the first sailing on the King County Water Taxi.
The “fast ferry” takes 278 passengers on each sailing from Seattle to Vashon Island, and Seattle to West Seattle.
The Seattle-Vashon route runs 22 minutes one way and Seattle-West Seattle clocks in at 15 minutes one way.
King County added new mid-day sailings at the beginning of July after many months of research into what customers were looking for.
Metro Marine Division director Terry Federer said the “work commute” changed since the pandemic. According to feedback, mid-day sailings would not only help people with business needs, but also for medical appointments and tourism.
Vashon Island resident Aren Der Hacopiqm said his work hours can be flexible. He added that having more options on the water taxi saves him time.
“It cuts my commute time in half,” Der Hacopian said.
The fast ferry, in Der Hacopian’s case, turns hours long commutes into quick trips.
“If I use the car with the ferries…the ferries, they’re doing their best, but they’re really behind sometimes and sometimes you have to calculate about a three-hour round-trip, for me and I work in the Seattle center area,” Der Hacopian said.
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