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Puget Sound counties want modernized ferry fleets. Voters decide their fate this fall

caption: Ferry systems serving San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom counties are looking for funding options to solve service challenges; over-budget bids have temporarily stalled the planned all-electric replacement of the aging ferry between Anacortes and Guemes Island.
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Ferry systems serving San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom counties are looking for funding options to solve service challenges; over-budget bids have temporarily stalled the planned all-electric replacement of the aging ferry between Anacortes and Guemes Island.
Tom Banse

Islanders and Peninsula residents who rely on ferries to get around Puget Sound will tell you: Aging boats and an unreliable system are squeezing their way of life.

Often, these boats are the only way of getting back to the mainland for doctors appointments, to see family, or to go to school. Increasingly, counties are stepping up to fill the gaps created by the beleaguered Washington State Ferries with their own ferry services.

The state plans to help fund that effort, including new electric boats for Skagit County’s Guemes Island ferry run, and Kitsap County’s Seattle-Bremerton run.

caption: Whatcom County described the current Lummi Island ferry as “functionally obsolete” in a successful application for a $25 million federal grant to modernize the ferry route.
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Whatcom County described the current Lummi Island ferry as “functionally obsolete” in a successful application for a $25 million federal grant to modernize the ferry route.
Tom Banse

Many replacement ferries and infrastructure upgrades are currently budgeted for in Olympia, said reporter Tom Banse, who's been covering this story for the Salish Current. But that funding may disappear after Election Day if Initiative 2117 successfully repeals the state's Climate Commitment Act, commonly known as the cap-and-trade program.

RELATED: Could a broken WA ferry system help cities grow more sustainably?

"And it's not just ferries" that are on the chopping block if I-2117 is successful, Banse said. "It's wildfire threat prevention — there are all sorts of things the Legislature was able to pay for this year that they're putting a contingency on," including bike paths in Spokane and air pollution reduction efforts at Sea-Tac Airport.

caption: Vashon Island ferry commuters are likely to get additional midday, workweek roundtrips to downtown Seattle via the King County Water Taxi until Washington State Ferries restores full service.
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Vashon Island ferry commuters are likely to get additional midday, workweek roundtrips to downtown Seattle via the King County Water Taxi until Washington State Ferries restores full service.
Tom Banse

Some of the most vocal people are residents of the San Juan Islands, which isn't surprising to Banse, since they rely on the Washington State Ferries for many things, including tourism and medical care.

"The islanders' ask this year is: 'We want our own county-operated, inter-island passenger-only ferry like Kitsap has, or the King County Water Taxi,'" Banse said.

RELATED: Letters to Inslee: More passenger-only ferries could be among solutions to Washington ferry woes

At 12 p.m. this Wednesday on Soundside, we'll be asking the Climate Commitment Act's biggest backer, Governor Jay Inslee, what he thinks of the effort.

We want to know: What questions do you have for Gov. Inslee as he completes his final year in office? Send us an email at soundside@kuow.org, or leave us a voicemail with your question and you might hear it on air: 206-221-3213.

You can listen to Soundside's entire conversation with Tom Banse by clicking the "play" icon at the top of this story.

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