Kitsap Fast Ferry

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Kitsap Fast Ferries
Kitsap Fast Ferry symbol-a.png
Locale Kitsap County, Washington
Waterway Puget Sound
Type Passenger ferry
Operator Kitsap Transit
Commenced
operation
July 10, 2017
Termini Bremerton
Kingston
Seattle
Southworth
No. of lines 3
No. of vessels 6 (1 planned)

Kitsap Fast Ferries is a passenger ferry service connecting Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth in Kitsap County with Seattle in King County.

History

Early operations

Kitsap County and Seattle were connected by a variety of passenger steamship ferries known as the "mosquito fleet" in the late 19th and early 20th century. Service was eventually replaced by automobile and passenger ferry service operated by the Puget Sound Navigation Company, which later became Washington State Ferries.

Passenger-only services were introduced once again by Washington State Ferries in the 1980s to help alleviate auto ferry traffic service between Seattle and Bremerton, Southworth, and Vashon Island. The 400-passenger catamaran MV Express (renamed MV Tyee) was leased in 1985 and began operations in 1986 between Seattle and Bremerton. The total crossing was approximately 38 minutes but initially failed to carry enough passengers to meet expectations until passenger numbers steadily grew in 1989.

Operational costs began to increase and funding was reliant on gas taxes from the state. Funding was not guaranteed in the 1989 budget and the MV Tyee and two other vessels were pulled from service. The three vessels were loaned to San Francisco and returned in 1990.

In 1990, ferries were slowed from 25 knots to 12 knots when passing through Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage near Bremerton due to complaints from shoreline residents that damage was being caused from wakes created by the ferries. The MV Chinook replaced the MV Tyee in 1998. The MV Chinook was designed to create smaller wakes at high speeds. In 1999, Rich Passage residents filed a lawsuit against Washington State Ferries seeking restitution for damaged properties created by wakes from the MV Chinook.

In referendums in 1999 and 2002 to fund ferry services, funding for ferry services were cut which led to the state legislature eliminating the service in 2003.

Kitsap Transit

Following the elimination of the service provided by Washington State Ferries in 2003, the state legislature allowed non-state entities to operate their own ferry services near Washington State Ferries routes. Kitsap Transit placed a 0.3% sales tax increase on a referendum to fund a passenger ferry service to replace the eliminated ferry service. The referendum was rejected.

Map of the Bremerton–Seattle route.

In 2004, Kitsap Transit partnered with private operators, launching a Seattle–Bremerton service operated by Kitsap Ferry Company. The service struggled to attract riders initially, and struggled to operate at a profit. Kitsap Transit placed the 0.3% tax increase on the ballot again, but was rejected in 2007 by voters. Shortly afterwards, Kitsap Transit pulled its funding for Kitsap Ferry Company, which later suspended operations.

Kitsap Transit commissioned the construction of a new catamaran designed for low wakes in 2009. The 78-foot-long Rich Passage 1 was built in Bellingham as part of a study. Testing began in Kitsap County in 2011 and passenger service trials in 2012. Rich Passage 1 traveled the 35-minute crossing between Bremerton and Seattle successfully and created half the wake a larger ferry would through Rich Passage travelling at 38 knots.

Funding for the study was provided through federal grants, which expired in 2012. The vessel spent several years in out-of-water storage and was occasionally used for infill trips for Washington State Ferries.

In 2015, a business plan was drafted by Kitsap Transit to develop a fast ferry system service Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth with Seattle. The 0.3% tax increase was once again presented and was approved through a referendum in 2016.

Service

Currently, there are three routes, connecting Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth with Seattle.

Fares

One-Way Cash KT Monthly Pass PugetPass
Full Fare $2.00 (Eastbound)
$10.00 (Westbound)
$168.00 (Fast Ferry Only)
$196.00 (Bus and Fast Ferry)
$72.00 (Eastbound Only)
$360.00 (Eastbound and Westbound)
Reduced Fare $1.00 (Eastbound)
$5.00 (Westbound)
$84.00 (Fast Ferry Only)
$98.00 (Bus and Fast Ferry)
$36.00 (Eastbound Only)
$180.00 (Eastbound and Westbound)

Bremerton–Seattle

The Bremerton–Seattle route runs Monday to Saturday in summer season and Monday to Friday in the winter season and takes approximately 30 minutes one-way. There are currently 13 round trips on weekdays and no weekend service.

Kingston–Seattle

The Kingston–Seattle route runs Monday to Friday and takes approximately 40 minutes one-way. There are currently six weekday round trips.

Southworth–Seattle

The Southworth-Seattle route runs Monday to Friday and takes about 26 minutes one-way. There are currently eight weekday round trips.

Fleet

Foot Ferry

Name Thumbnail Year Passengers Route Notes
MV Carlisle II Kitsap Transit Foot Ferry MV Carlisle II-a.jpg 1917 143 Bremerton–Port Orchard The oldest of only two operational examples of a Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet vessel.
MV Admiral Pete 1994[1] 122 Bremerton–Annapolis (peak)
Bremerton–Port Orchard (off-peak)
MV Waterman [2] 2019 150 Bremerton–Annapolis (peak)
Bremerton–Port Orchard
  • Hybrid vessel

Fast ferry roster

Name Thumbnail Year Passenger capacity Route Notes
MV Rich Passage 1 Kitsap Transit Rich Passage 1-a.jpg 2011 118 Bremerton–Seattle
MV Finest Kitsap Transit MV Finest-a.jpg 1996 350 Kingston–Seattle
  • Bought from NY Waterways, involved in 9/11/01 Manhattan boatlift. [3]
  • Rebuilt by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders
  • Inaugurated Kingston - Seattle service, 11/19/2018
MV Melissa Ann 1988 172 Kingston–Seattle (Backup)
MV Reliance [4] Kitsap Transit MV Reliance-a.jpg 2019 118 Bremerton–Seattle
MV Lady Swift [5] 2019 118 Bremerton–Seattle (backup)
Kingston–Seattle (backup)
MV Enetai [6] Kitsap Fast Ferry MV Enetai-a.jpg 2020 250 Southworth–Seattle
MV Commander Kitsap Fast Ferries Commander-a.jpg 2021 250 Kingston–Seattle

Future vessels

Name Thumbnail Year Passengers Route Notes
M/V Solano San Francisco Bay Ferry Solano-a.png 2004 320 Southworth–Seattle (Backup)

References

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia.

The original article was at Kitsap Fast Ferries. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.The text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

v·d·e
Kitsap Transit Logo-a.jpg
Fleet
Vehicles 730-747 750-751 752-761 762-766 770-774 775-779 780-787 943 955-969 970-971 978 979-980 1000-1014 1015-1025 1026-1028 2000-2045 2100-2118 2119-2130 6000-6008 6009-6017 6018-6023 6024-6027 6028-6029 6030-6031 6032-6033 6034-6035 7000-7016 7017-7025
Retired Vehicles 400-401 402-413 414-420 421-426 427 428 429 430 500-501 502-503 560-562 565-570 600 600 601 602 602-603 604 605-610 611-614 615-616 617 618-619 620 621 622-623 624 625-628 629 633 634-639 640 641, 643 644 645-647 650-651 652-653 654, 658-659, 660, 670-698 674 699 700-706 700-722 731-737 738-739 800-806 810-817 820-823 824-829 840-861 862-869 871-876 880-884 885-889 901-902 904 905-906 907-918 6036-6039
Foot Ferries Admiral Pete - Carlisle II - MV Waterman
Fast Ferries Rich Passage 1 - MV Finest - MV Reliance - MV Lady Swift - MV Enetai - MV Commander
Routes
Bus 4 5 8 9 11 12 13 15 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 32 33 34 35 36 37 44 81 82 86 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 106
Foot Ferry Port Orchard–Annapolis–Bremerton
Fast Ferry Bremerton–Seattle - Kingston–Seattle - Southworth–Seattle
Puget Sound Region Agencies
Seattle
Seattle
Puget Sound
Lynnwood
Everett
Tacoma
Olympia
Seattle
Port Angeles
Bremerton
Bremerton
Aberdeen/Hoquiam
Shelton
Oak Harbor/Coupeville
Port Townsend
Mount Vernon/Burlington
Bellingham