As promised the other night, when King County Councilmember Dow Constantine told the Southwest District Council that the Elliott Bay Water Taxi’s ridership was up 17 percent over last year (as of mid-May), we now have the complete May report, and it has other interesting details — read on:

Here’s the full text of the announcement from Councilmember Constantine’s office:

Despite a drizzly, blustery May the Elliott Bay Water Taxi is off to another strong start registering a 17 percent increase in riders over last year’s record-setting pace. The downtown-to-Seacrest Park run served a total of 29,340 riders through the end of May; its 2008 summer season opened on April 27.

“The continued strong increases in ridership show that the Elliott Bay Water Taxi has become an important and valued commuting option for West Seattle residents,” said Metropolitan King County Councilmember Dow Constantine, whose district includes Southwest Seattle. “We face years of difficult commutes due to the impending Highway 99 corridor construction, and we must look to providing West Seattle residents with as many convenient transit alternatives as possible.”

Ridership was particularly strong on weekends with Saturday ridership up 38 percent and Sunday ridership up 47 percent. Special boats for Mariners games also reported strong ridership.

In the summer of 2007, the Water Taxi carried a record 161,331 passengers. Both of the past two seasons have registered annual increases of over 32 percent. It is expected that with the arrival of warmer weather and continued high gas costs that the Water Taxi will continue to break previous ridership records this year.

This year is the first year that the Elliott Bay Water Taxi has been funded by the newly established King County Ferry District. This has allowed King County to use the previous funds to continue to expand bus service throughout the county. The Ferry District plans to move the Elliott Bay Water Taxi to year-round service in Spring 2010 with improved docks and boats.

The fare for the Elliott Bay Water Taxi fare is $3 for anyone over the age of 5. Passengers with a valid Metro transfer pay just $1. Also accepted for full fare are PugetPasses, FlexPasses, Metro Access Passes, Visitor Passes, Vanpool Passes, Saturday/Sunday Day Passes, and Regional Reduced Fare Permits with a valid monthly or annual sticker. The 2008 Water Taxi season runs through Friday, Oct. 31.

For more information on the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, call (206) 553-3000 (TTY 206-684-1739) or go to www.kingcounty.gov/metro. Riders can check on the current operating status of the Water Taxi by calling (206) 205-3866.