More on ferries

Yesterday, the Washington governor was scheduled to issue a press release that explained her plan to replace the four steel electric ferries that were sidelined in November.

Instead, according to the Seattle Times coverage and a separate summary of the governor's plan, the state will now build four large 144-car ferries and three 54-car ferries. The three smaller ferries will be used to replace the four steel electric vessels.

In an earlier post, I pointed out the legislature had already appropriated $280 million in 2003 and increased the amount to $351 million in 2007 to replace the steel electrics.

But the governor and the Times now claim the pot of money was always meant for these mysterious 144-car ferries:

To build the new 54-car Keystone boats, Gregoire proposed to take $64 million from the nearly $350 million already approved to build four new 144-car ferries, and today she signed a contract with Todd Shipyard to build those boats. She said she didn't know if raiding the pot for the Steel Electrics would mean the state couldn't afford to build all four 144-car boats.

So who ordered the larger 144-car ferries?

The Everett Herald addressed the switch in this June article:

Despite initial promises, the new 144-car vessels will not replace the 80-year-old Steel Electric-class ferries that run between Keystone on Whidbey Island and Port Townsend, said Joy Goldenberg, communications manager for Washington State Ferries.

The 144-car vessels cannot replace the Keystone ferries because they are too large. 

It's no wonder residents, business owners and taxpayers are frustrated. Despite the legislature fully funding the replacement of the steel electrics in 2003, the WSDOT, the WSF and now the governor are needlessly building ferries with money originally designated for the Keystone route.