— from the Office of Rep. Jeff Morris —
I’ve spent 23 years advocating for new ferries, securing funding, and finding the right process to construct the newer 144-car vessels. In 2009 I was able to expedite construction of these ferries by two years, and in 2013 secured funding for a third Olympic Class vessel.
It’s clear we need more vessels to take the place of aging ferries, and I understand that there are many competing interests for funds in the state’s two-year biennial transportation budget. Unfortunately, this year the budget as drafted will rely on a 75-cent surcharge on every vehicle fare sold to pay for renovations and new vessels.
What’s frustrating about this is that our ferry system is part of the state’s overall transportation network, just as our roads are. New paving, lane striping and the like are paid for with state gas tax dollars. Charging another 75 cents to people who rely on ferries to get to work, school, or the doctor – without including other revenue sources as we do with new roads – isn’t fair.
I’ll keep working on this so that we can get the new boats we need without solely targeting a percentage of Washingtonians who use this part of our transportation system.
Rep. Morris fails to point out that, in addition to the increase in the “capital surcharge” for vehicles, the transportation budget proposal includes an across-the-board six percent fare increase–far exceeding the underling inflation rate. Added together, the surcharge and fare increases will boost the cost for vehicles using multi-ride cards by more than eight percent.
Our Democratic legislature should do better for those of us living in ferry-dependent communities.
Bob wrote: “Our Democratic legislature should do better for those of us living in ferry-dependent communities.”
Yeah. Right.
Our current legislature seems more interested in spending money on transfer payments and pork-barrel projects, than in paying for proper service for its constituents.
Its only answer is to increase taxes and fees, and even then the money is somehow never there to be put where it’s needed.
Remember how hard it was, to get the legislature to, finally, fully fund our state’s schools? And you want them to pay for ferries? Hah!