Except pre pandemic ferries were routinely on time (data going back to 2017):

https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/washington-state-ferries/about-us/ferries-accountability-and-service-data/time-performance-reports

The truly poor performance is a recent event - not related to I-695. As an aside, you can get real-time updates on delays so no reason to be surprised (and hopefully the next governor starts taking a serious look at addressing systemic issues within the department).

@1's data also shows the Seattle/Bainbridge route pretty consistently has poor on-time performance in the summer months. And of course anyone whose tried to ride that route on a summer weekend afternoon is well aware of that fact.

This is all true but I’d invite you to zoom in closer. Rural and suburban voters are much less likely to use government infrastructure and are very resistant to taxes. They may be a fraction of the tax base, but wield considerable influence creating anti-tax policy. Good luck getting this crowd to sign on to socialism!

@4 aren't roads, power grids, and public utilities government infrastructure?

@5, some of those things are publicly owned, others are private. The general vibe is much more “go it alone” than urban areas. Urbanites are much likelier to see, appreciate, and approve taxes for shared resources (libraries, social programs, public transportation) than rural areas even they do have some public infrastructure or enjoy welfare/disability checks. Ideology is stronger than reason.

Sorry, but the problem isn't lack of taxes to pay for the ferries (the money has been there for quite some time). The problem is that the dems (mostly Insley) have insisted that they be hybrid and (surprise surprise) no one wanted to bid on them. Also the dems insistance that they be built in wa is another big factor. This one is totally on Insley and the dem congress.

@7 is absolutely correct. This is more about climate Jay than any tax measures. God forbid we actually criticize him though.

Sorry, calling dumpster fire on this article. Washington WASTES money so badly that it's purely laughable.

Let's toll the roads - BUT let's give away the money to an out of state company to monitor it for us.
Let's not have a REAL D.O.T - BUT let's contract out to all of these 3rd party road crews
Let's have the highest gas taxes in the nation - BUT, let's not actually spend it on the roads
Let's do lots of road projects - BUT, let's take decades to complete them so they are always over budget
Let's have ferries - BUT, let's not charge the people who use them vs those that don't
Let's spend billions - BUT, not on what we say that taxes are for - like oh billions on homeless people but we said it was for schools. Or let's say it's for homeless, but 90% of it is spent on religious organizations who aren't fixing the issue.

Washington doesn't know how to manage it's money and it's citizens aren't taking the lies any more.

donOLD
trumpfster'll
have All the ferrys
running ON TIME or
his name isn't Eltrumpfster

obv he may have to shoot
a few millions to Make it
So but that's just the
Price you gotta Pay
to live in a Free
Society

b. is Eyeman
behind
Bars
yet?

c. did Tim
ever open up his
Chair Museum in Tukwila?

"Swiss technology developer ABB has signed a propulsion single source vendor contract with Washington State Ferries, the United States’ largest ferry system, for five new hybrid electric ferries.[..]The five new hybrid ferries will be the first of a fleet of 16 new vessels delivered under WSF’s $3.98 billion Ferry System Electrification plan. By 2050, WSF wants to operate emissions-free. The cooperation between Washington State Ferries and ABB goes back as far as 2020 when the first drive supply agreement was inked."

https://www.electrive.com/2024/07/27/abb-to-deliver-hybrid-drives-for-washington-state-ferries/

"As the biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions among Washington state agencies, WSF burns approximately nineteen million gallons of diesel fuel to support nearly twenty million passengers every year. This innovative electrification program will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save millions in fuel costs.

WSF aspires to an emission-free ferry fleet by 2050. To get there, we will convert six existing vessels to hybrid-electric power, build 16 new hybrid-electric vessels and add shore charging to 16 terminals.

The Ferry System Electrification program is estimated to cost $3.98 billion, with $1.68 billion currently funded from grants, state, and federal funding. Much of this funding comes from two major Washington state initiatives, including $1.03 billion from Move Ahead Washington and $599 million from the Climate Commitment Act (CCA)."

@12 https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/major-projects/ferry-system-electrification

@8 "This is more about climate Jay"

No, it's about our children's climate. You have got to pick, either you agree that climate change has to be addressed now as we invest in tomorrow's infrastructure, or you deny that we are facing the climate emergency defined by climate scientists. I guess you could also pick that whatever happens tomorrow is of no consequence to you.

For the record, gas taxes and fees pay for about half the cost of building and maintaining highways. That said, I believe that gas taxes are the wrong instrument to pay for infrastructure due to their regressive nature combined with the lack of transportation alternative.

Muxie's tesla
owners don't gotta
Pay no stinkin 'gas taxes.'

plus
they get
a Far reichwing
MAGAPHONE for
every dime they spent

killing two birds
with only One stone.

@11-15
Thank you, ab.

First, if you didn’t build ferry delays into your plans, that’s on you.
Second it’s always hard and will always be hard to convince people to vote to give up more of their hard earned money for a ferry system that has been riddled with maintenance, crew and reliability issues for decades.
I haven’t ridden the ferry in at least 10 years and have no plans to any time soon.

@12, at least 3 years too late and a waste of tax $. If 5 years ago we had just ordered proven tech diesel boats we wouldn't be in this mess (and don't blame the pandemic on this one, the problem has been brewing for many years). But then again, it's rural people who use the ferries and clearly insly and the dems couldn't care less.

@18 Claiming rural people use the ferries (Bainbridge and Bremerton are rural?) seems like a stretch. It's a commuter system that serves many needs, and I expect commuters from suburbs outweigh rural users.

@15 How about a road use tax tied to vehicle weight? Collected at the pump for ICE vehicles (weight classes seem to the obvious choice: 1 ton and under (motorcycles), 1.5 - 2 tons for many cars, 2 - 3 tons, then 3 ton+. Everyone gets a transponder which gets read at the gas pump for ICEs or at EV chargers, where they can pay by the month like a Good to Go pass. It's vehicle weight that tears up the roads as well as GHGs that are wrecking the climate. Why not hit both?