Water Taxi “makes room” for more

A commenter broke the news beneath the I-5 post below … we got it confirmed by King County and WSDOT: The Water Taxi is getting new technology (Automatic Identification System equipment) which enables the Coast Guard to certify it to nearly double its passenger capacity to 250. This is being done in time for Freeway Fright ’07 next month, but will last beyond that. As King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office points out, the increased capacity will be good for other peak traffic times and heavy ridership situations, such as the the day last year when a deadly accident blocked The Bridge. During the August 10-29 construction period ONLY, an extra WT trip will be offered, at 6:10 am, and two extra shuttle vans will be added to the WT Shuttle routes during “peak hours.” For those of you who like to know where the $ is coming from, the county says the state is picking up the $20K-plus that’s involved here. SIDE NOTE: If you didn’t see our detailed report last Friday afternoon about a proposal to create a new Water Taxi terminal at Pier 1/2 adjacent to Jack Block Park, read it here.

K July 25, 2007 (6:39 am)

Woo HOO! it is worth celebrating anything positive that happens to our beloved water taxi!

TeaLady July 25, 2007 (9:12 am)

First, I’m a HUGE FAN of the water taxi and am thrilled good things are happening. That being said, I don’t mean to be a stick in the mud but I’ve been on the water taxi when it’s at capacity now…I can’t believe 250 bodies can even fit on it!! We need a bigger boat.

Flowerpetal July 26, 2007 (1:30 pm)

I too love the Water Taxi and I too am skeptical about uping the limit by 100. If that occurs often, I might as well stand-up on Metro (a typical occurance)and ride home that way.

Sorry, comment time is over.