West Seattle Water Taxi riders’ opinion wanted – for $

| King County Water Taxi | Transportation | West Seattle news

King County asked if we would share this announcement to help them recruit for these discussions about the West Seattle Water Taxi (WSB Traffic page sponsor):

This coming week the King County Department of Transportation’s Marine Division will conduct three focus group discussions with West Seattle residents. The purpose is to learn more about how the King County Water Taxi can better serve the West Seattle community.

Two of the three groups will include residents who regularly commute via the Water Taxi. These will be held at 8 PM on Monday the 15th, and at 8 PM on Wednesday the 17th. The third group, to be comprised of occasional Water Taxi riders, will be held at 8 PM on Thursday the 18th.

The discussions will take place in downtown Seattle and participants will be served snacks and receive a $75 gratuity.

If interested and one of these times works for you, please contact Chris Wheeler at christopher.wheeler@kingcounty.gov to sign up and receive further details.

clark5080 November 9, 2010 (5:20 pm)

I can’t go but a good start would be to stop trying to run it themselves and contract with Argosy

Marco K November 9, 2010 (5:28 pm)

Well said!

West Seattle Art Attack November 9, 2010 (5:45 pm)

Good to see the city is spending our taxes so wisely. . . . $75 each? I wonder how many people they’ll be talking to. . . . . I guess they figure they’ll need to reimburse for the cost of downtown parking.

LET THEM SWIM November 9, 2010 (6:07 pm)

IS THE W.S. WATER TAXI COSTING TAX PAYERS OR IS IT SELF SUFFICIENT?
I SEE THE BUS FOR W.T. ALMOST ALWAYS EMPTY. LETS SEE THE DEBITS AND THE CREDITS.
IT MUST BE OPERATING AT A LOSS. THEREFORE TAX-PAYERS PICKING UP SOMETHING THAT NEED NOT BE THERE.

Baba November 9, 2010 (6:13 pm)

I think someone needs to let the NEW homeless camp participants know about this meeting (they can qualify as occasional Water Taxi riders at 8 pm on Thursday the 18th)
Heck, for $75 plus snacks, I will attend too!

Al November 9, 2010 (7:31 pm)

I suppose that you are all driving your cars so much you really don’t understand how important transit options are for those of us who both need and want a viable choice of getting around that doesn’t rely on a single occupancy vehicle. And you all support more traffic, more cars, etc. You all do know that the “road taxes” and the “gas taxes” don’t come anywhere near paying for the existing infrastructure, right? Everyone pays for everyone…that’s the whole freaking point. It helps out society in general.

redblack November 9, 2010 (8:35 pm)

no, al. private industry is the only thing that will save us.
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with taxpayer subsidy, of course.
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:D

Baba November 9, 2010 (8:46 pm)

redblack,
It turns out that the welfare state is a mathematical impossibility. Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) was correct. Those that practice socialism eventually bankrupt themselves.

redblack November 9, 2010 (9:00 pm)

how is funding a water taxi welfare?
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by that logic, highways are welfare.

gene November 9, 2010 (9:15 pm)

To take Al’s comments a bit further, not only do we subsidize car infrastructure (both roads and “car storage”. aka parking) with our tax dollars, we also subsidize it with damages to our health. That in turn decreases quality of living, while again increasing the toll on our wallets via increased health care costs.

Why should the 20% of Seattle residents who don’t drive subsidize the rest of us with the wallets and their health? Sure, we need to get emergency services and goods and services around, but that doesn’t require the estimated 20-26% of the city that is dedicated to roads and car storage.

Just something to think about before complaining about mass transit options that don’t pull their own weight.

Having said all of this, I’d love to see the Water Taxi shuttles get more use. There are many people who use them to just get around the neighborhood (convenient for some for grocery trips/etc.), but if we’re going to run those shuttles, I’d rather see them have better ridership.

NotMe November 9, 2010 (9:35 pm)

It was in the news this morning… when Argosy was running it, the cost of ridership was $3.00+ per person… now it’s over $15.00.
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I, for one, do not want to pay for something that is “nice” to have, and not really necessary.

Glenda November 9, 2010 (9:53 pm)

NotMe (appropriate name),

The Water Taxi will become more than just “nice” to have if the viaduct gets torn down. It will become vital.

That said, I’m all for exploring how to efficiently pay for it.

Baba November 9, 2010 (9:55 pm)

redblack,
by your logic, every problem can be fixed with taxpayer subsidy…???

redblack November 10, 2010 (5:42 am)

certainly not, baba. just like every budget can’t be fixed by cutting its revenue. things cost money and the county needs to own things, too.
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the big difference here, people, is that argosy owns its own fleet. and now king county is buying – leasing? – its own fleet, which is newer and faster.
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just because the government does it doesn’t make it socialist.

news=truth? November 10, 2010 (8:12 am)

NotMe—
Because it’s in the news you automatically subscribe to the “it must be true” theory? Which news agency reported it? Was it reported by more than one agency?

I happened to hear a bit of the conversation from both sides on the KOMO yesterday afternoon. Hardly sounds like an apples to apples comparison.

ellenater November 10, 2010 (9:18 am)

A deterrent for me with the water taxi is that, once on the other side, there aren’t good transit options. I use it to go to the train station, Mariner’s, and to hand out on the waterfront. But if I am going to Westlake or N. Seattle, I drive. When I take the train to Portland, I can get a MAX train at the station and go almost anywhere in the city where easily. We need rail!

And I agree with Glenda, we are going to rely on the water taxi soon. If they could improve connections on the down town side, maybe a shuttle up by Westlake, etc., that would really help.

Maritherese Thomas November 10, 2010 (9:19 am)

Please make transfers available again!

Steve M November 10, 2010 (10:20 am)

I would consider using the Water Taxi rather than the bus if I had a reliable way of getting home from Seacrest Park. The shuttle buses need to run in support of the Water Taxi especially at commute times. Currently the shuttle runs to Morgan Junction during the midday only, from 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM. Not very helpful as a commuting option. So commuters to Morgan would have to take the water taxi from downtown, the shuttle to the Alaska junction and then a 22,54 or 128 from Alaska to Morgan junction. Not practical. Why wouldn’t I just take a 54 or 21 from downtown? Without the DART shuttle in support of the water taxi, this is a vanity project. Not a viable part of the transit system. With a supporting shuttle it becomes a viable alternative.

kbsea November 10, 2010 (12:01 pm)

I second what Steve M said. I live close to the Morgan Junction– if the water taxi actually ran in my neighborhood during commuter hours I would use it and the boat FOR SURE. right now, it’s just too many connections to make it worthwhile.

redblack November 10, 2010 (6:47 pm)

steve and kbsea, those are great points. metro should be running a route that never leaves the peninsula, using the triangle as its base. kind of a big figure-8-shaped route that would hit the junction, harbor ave, alki, admiral junction, the junction again, morgan junction, then back to the triangle.
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gods forbid, though, that it should cost anything.

Maggie Sudduth November 10, 2010 (7:01 pm)

Correction: the meetings are at 6pm not 8pm.

WSB November 10, 2010 (7:29 pm)

Maggie – this is a direct cut and paste from the announcement the county asked us to share. Hopefully if there is a different time, the county is sharing that info directly with the folks who have signed up – they tell us they’ve had plenty of responses … TR

Mary November 10, 2010 (7:54 pm)

It sounds like a lot of those commenting on this post could provide useful input to those running the program; maybe they should sign up for a focus group in addition to commenting on the WSB? And if they’re offended about being paid for their time, there are plenty of worthwhile charities to whom they could contribute the $75.

World Citizen November 11, 2010 (8:32 am)

I would use it more if it were a hovercraft with a full bar and a dance floor. Live music would be ok, but a dj with the latest jams would be righteous. There could be a fog machine and lazer lights and a massage table. Also, full service dining area with organic, local, sustainable, vegan fare. There could be a level for poetry readings and improv. theater as well. This area could double as an aquatic community center where people could convene to debate things like public transportation initiatives, and politics. Oh yeah, sports bar with 25 60″ plasma HDTVs and full surround sound for every seat customizable to the individual tv the patron is watching at the time. Add wi-fi and I think that about covers it.

Sorry, comment time is over.