Ferry Tales: How the System Broke, Why It's so Hard to Fix

If Washington residents were polled on their favorite service of Washington State government, odds are that many would pick Washington State Ferries. 

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But these are tough times for the nation’s largest ferry system, which carried 8.8 million passengers (about half the population of New York state) and 8.6 million vehicles in 2022. As the summer begins, however, ferry riders are bracing themselves for another season of sharply curtailed sailing schedules and long delays brought about by a shortage of vessels and trained crew. 

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The ferry system lost its main source of capital-construction with voter approval of Tim Eyman’s Initiative 695 in 1999, which promised a return to $30 car-license tabs by eliminating the state’s Motor Vehicle Excise Tax.  

Although the initiative was struck down by the courts, the Legislature and then-Gov. Gary Locke did agree to eliminate the unpopular MVET, which represented a loss of more than $1 billion in tax revenue in the first two years. In one stroke, the ferry system lost dedicated funding for its capital-construction program and operating subsidies.

https://www.postalley.org/2024/05/31/ferry-tales-how-the-system-broke-why-its-so-hard-to-fix/