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).
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