Bainbridge Island residents show new optimism and resolve to revive Washington's ferries

Bainbridge Island residents gathered at a community center near the ferry dock on Saturday to discuss their concerns about an unreliable ferry system.

Ferries have been underfunded since the late 1990s, when conservative activist Tim Eyman's tax revolt movement deprived ferries of income generated by car tab fees, said State Representative Greg Nance (D-Bainbridge Island) at a recent "Fix our Ferries" town hall.

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Today, a perfect storm of broken down vessels and lost crew members mean that somewhere in Puget Sound, there's a canceled sailing or the threat of a cancellation almost every day.

Despite these problems, residents of Bainbridge Island were feeling optimistic on Saturday. Some said this recent legislative session was the first in which they felt heard.

Attendees brought their ideas about potential solutions to Nance.

Could the state lease new ferries in the short term? Could old ferries that are no longer in service be rented out for other purposes, like housing museums, to generate more income? Could the ferries earn more money by putting more advertisements up?

All these options are on the table, Nance said, though ads would likely be inside the ferries — rather than on the boat exterior — following a controversial Coca Cola ad that locals say besmirched the ferry boats' iconic white and green look.

Jessica Perkins, vice president of community engagement at the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, asked about lost tourism dollars.

"The chamber had a lot of local establishments and owners come to us and say, 'Well, is Washington state ever going to pay for our lack of money coming in? '"

"You're exactly right," Nance answered. "There's an opportunity cost. When there's a canceled sailing, a lot of folks don't come over here. They spend their money in Pike Place Market, which, hey — good for Pike Place, very bad for Kitsap Small Businesses."

Perkins said the Chamber would love to help gather economic impact data.

Reaching across the aisle

Nance, a Democrat, told the assembled crowd that he had made fixing the ferry system his top priority during the 2024 legislative session. He said that meant winning over Republicans.

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“We actually passed a transportation budget that fully funded our ferries with a vote of 93-2," he said. "93-2! And every single Republican actually voted for our budget.”

But funding the ferry systems operating budget alone won't bring the fleet back to full service. It'll take significant capital investments.

Nance warned that politicians and the public will probably get sticker shock when the first bids come in next month to build the next generation of boats. The reason, he said, is that shipyards available are more interested in lucrative military contracts, as the U.S. Navy is currently building hundreds of new vessels in a major push to upgrade its fleet.

Overcoming the sticker shock in Washington state will require more bridge-building with state politicians who don't have ferries in their districts, Nance added.

“Like my friend, Representative Tom Dent," he said. "He’s a bison farmer. It’s been a bunch of years since a bison farmer from Eastern Washington rode a ferry. He’s never had to ride a ferry to work, or to get to a medical appointment, or to get his child to school."

In conversations with Eastern Washington lawmakers, Nance emphasizes the importance of getting Eastern Washington crops, such as apples, to consumer markets on the western side of Puget Sound via ferry.

While state support is needed to get projects started, Nance said, it’ll ultimately take federal money to get the state’s new ferries built; the needs of the fleet are just too much for the state to handle alone.

Nance said that will require political work at the national level — winning over legislators from landlocked states like Iowa and Arizona. Nance emphasized the important role U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) plays as the chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

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During the last state legislative session in Olympia, Washington lawmakers greenlit a study to quantify the economic impact of ferry disruptions in the state. Nance said this will supply the hard data the Biden administration asked for to justify the expense associated with new ferries.

Bainbridge City Council member Ashley Mathews attended Nance's town hall on Saturday. She said Nance has given people optimism that the ferry system’s problems are being taken seriously.

“He has gotten this conversation really going, and the momentum is unbelievable,” she said.