Water Taxi scores record year – and dock expansion work begins

As the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle run sends out the official announcement of another record-setting year (which ended on Halloween), we also have word that work has begun on the expansion of its Seacrest dock – which will enable the foot ferry to go year-round starting next spring. Word from King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine‘s office is that work on the dock components already has begun offsite, and the 12-week expansion project will start onsite within a few weeks. Now, as for that recordsetting traffic – here’s the official announcement:

The King County Water Taxi West Seattle route broke the 200,000 rider mark in 2009, as the 12-year-old passenger ferry connecting West Seattle and downtown Seattle increased its annual ridership by 21 percent over 2008.

During the 2009 summer season:

—The West Seattle route served a total of 203,229 riders;

—Set individual monthly ridership records for each full operational month: May 2009 (31,557), June 2009 (33,865), July 2009 (46,861), August 2009 (43,981), and September 2009 (26,603);

—The 46,861 riders in July set the mark as the top ridership month in the history of the King County Water Taxi West Seattle route;

—August 2009 was the second highest ridership month in West Seattle route history (43,981 riders) and just the third month ever with 43,000 or more riders (43,020 people rode in August 2007), and

—Over the past five years, ridership on the West Seattle route has increased by 90 percent (from 106,316 riders in 2005 to 203,229 riders in 2009).

13 Replies to "Water Taxi scores record year - and dock expansion work begins"

  • Mike November 13, 2009 (2:21 pm)

    This is great! The twice daily cruise with my bicycle was wonderful. I highly suggest it to those that work in or near downtown. Lots of room, great views, it’s just relaxing.

  • CandrewB November 13, 2009 (2:45 pm)

    That is over $600,000 in revenue. Anyone have the cost figures so we can tell the cranks to stick it?

  • MrJT November 13, 2009 (2:53 pm)

    Bite that Susan.

  • JanS November 13, 2009 (2:55 pm)

    MrJT – lolol…

  • Mike November 13, 2009 (3:26 pm)

    The ferry to nowhere carried nearly 1/4 million riders. And the voters of nowhere didn’t like her idea.

  • momon35th November 13, 2009 (4:05 pm)

    Even my five year old knew Hutchinson was crazy, the Water Taxi didn’t take Daddy nowhere, it took him to work and back. We love the Water Taxi, and take our out of town guests on it all the time, a great way to be tourists in your own town!

  • mark November 13, 2009 (4:41 pm)

    Susan who?

  • Eliza November 13, 2009 (4:50 pm)

    Yeah Water Taxi!!! Can’t wait to have it up and running again next season — all seasons long!

  • Donn November 13, 2009 (6:25 pm)

    Is this better than light rail ridership?

  • JayDee November 13, 2009 (6:58 pm)

    No offense to the Sightseer (My pet name: “The Pig” because it plows through the water with such grace) but one of those fast 149 passenger foot ferries look sweet–those things fly. Plus they are quieter than the old ones, IMHO. It would be nice to get downtown in the 12 minutes advertised (more like 14-15 with the Sightseer), but 8 minutes would be sweet.

    My only concern is if they shift the downtown landing south–At one point they’d debated putting the landing at Jackson and the waterfront which is a non-starter for me either way. I’ve not seen anything about changes in the downtown landing recently.

  • Living in West Seattle Since 1985 November 13, 2009 (7:45 pm)

    For a ferry going “no where,” it sure took a lot of people along for a ride! That is AWESOME! Glad to see its success! Way to go!!!

  • Jose November 13, 2009 (9:16 pm)

    Love the Water Taxi, glad it’s going year-round. Any trip I can avoid the viaduct and parking downtown is a good trip.

  • austin November 14, 2009 (7:38 am)

    Re: Donn, “Is this better than light rail ridership?”

    From http://blog.seattlepi.com/transportation/archives/182829.asp , regarding light rail ridership-

    “Weekday ridership is predicted to jump to 26,600 by the end of 2010, which will be a year after a 1.3-mile segment between Tukwila and Sea-Tac International Airport opens.

    A total of 416,586 boardings were counted in September, down from 432,272 boardings in August.”

    The referenced Link segment to the airport will be open December 19. ( http://www.soundtransit.org/News-and-Events/News-Releases/Airport-Station-to-open-for-light-rail.xml )

    There needs to be better bus service to Seacrest.

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