Who wants to go to Seattle?

||| FROM STEVE BERNHEIM |||

Many of us in San Juan County have been unable to secure ferry reservations for a planned trip to the mainland or back. But if you cannot fit your car onto the ferry you want, maybe give public transit a try for your next trip to Seattle or SeaTac.

Generally, the fastest service to Seattle is via Kenmore Air. There are multiple flights daily though fewer in the winter. When seaplanes are flying, you arrive at Lake Union for downtown Seattle destinations. Otherwise, their Eastsound Airport departures will land you at Boeing Field. Kenmore Air can shuttle you to SeaTac or you can hop a King County Metro bus to downtown Seattle. Fog sometimes delays or cancels departures. Flight time to Boeing Field is less than an hour (with added shuttle time to SeaTac) and the one-way fare is $189 (discounts available on books of ten one-way tickets).

If you do not want the impact of flying and you decide to walk on to the ferry (no reservation!), you have two choices after you get to the Anacortes ferry terminal.

Primarily for those going to SeaTac Airport, you can take the Bellair bus service which arrives (after a transfer in Burlington) in 2 and ¾ hours. If you walk on to the early 7:05 am ferry, you can catch Bellair’s 9:05 am bus getting you to SeaTac before noon. Their busses run every two hours; the last leaves at 4:55 pm arriving SeaTac before 8 pm. Once at SeaTac, the Link light rail system connects you with the entire SesTac-Seattle-Lynwood area. Coming back, there are eight Bellair buses from SeaTac (the last one leaves at 5:30 pm), which get you to Anacortes without any coordination to the six possible ferry connections to Orcas. Checking connections can minimize wait times. One-way Bellair fares are $56.

If Seattle generally is your destination, you can also take the Skagit Transit bus No. 410 from the Anacortes Ferry Terminal to the Skagit Station in Mt. Vernon (after a no-wait transfer to the No. 40X at March’s Point) and from Skagit Station take an express No. 90X Skagit Transit bus down
I-5 to the Everett Station. From there, the Community Transit No. 512 gets you to the northernmost Link light rail terminal at Lynnwood City Center Station where you can get on the light rail to all points south, including Northgate, Capitol Hill, Seattle, and SeaTac Airport. Total
one-way fares are less than $10.

Using this itinerary, I walked on to a recent 7:05 am ferry and arrived at Pioneer Square before 1:00 pm. Coming back, I left Pioneer Square at 7:20 am and was able to catch the 12:30 pm ferry.

For last minute emergencies or the impressive tourist experience, Kenmore Air always delivers unless there is a weather delay.

Bellair is reliable and hassle-free if your SeaTac flight does not leave until afternoon and you arrive back in time to catch their last 5:30 pm bus to Anacortes for the 9:25 pm ferry home.

(There is a later bus that arrives after the last Orcas ferry departs.)

Skagit Transit clearly works (only $1.00 for the senior fare through to Skagit Station in Mt. Vernon) and some of the four connections – at March’s Point, Skagit Station, Everett Station, and Lynwood City Center Station – are short and convenient while others can be longer. Bring a sack or backpack with your favorite snacks, drinks and past times and time can fly by while others are driving. The Skagit and Everett stations have cleaner and more comfortable waiting rooms than the ferry.

So, which is right for you?

Kenmore Air: from arrival at Eastsound Airport to arrival at Lake Union or Boeing Field is about 90 minutes and costs about $189. Probably flying is in the higher range of greenhouse gas and carbon fuel impact per passenger.

Bellair: from arrival at Orcas ferry to SeaTac airport is about 5 hours. Despite the diesel busses, there is probably relatively low greenhouse gas and carbon fuel impact per passenger. But the round trip is more than $100.

Skagit Transit: from arrival to Orcas ferry to Pioneer Square takes a little over 6 hours (another 30 minutes to SeaTac) and round trip with walk-on ferry fare is less than $25. This option has probably a relatively low greenhouse gas and carbon fuel impact per passenger but figuring
connections to the 410, 40X, 90X, 512 and Link rail can be intimidating due to lack of smooth connections between Washington State Ferries, Skagit Transit, Community Transit, Link Light Rail and King County Metro.

Ah, did you get a last-minute reservation? Arrive ahead of time at Orcas ferry and you can take at least 5 hours to a Capitol Hill or downtown appointment, and more to get to SeaTac Airport.

Car and driver fare (round trip) on the ferry is $68, and gas to Seattle and back is about six to ten gallons ($25-50). For gas cars, there is probably a higher range greenhouse gas and carbon fuel emissions per passenger (for electric cars probably relatively higher range of energy consumption), though there is a lot more privacy. Roundtrip cost can be over $150 considering fare, fuel, parking and wear and tear.

Wait a minute, who wants to go to Seattle anyway?