Another foot ferry on Elliott Bay today: Kitsap Transit’s Rich Passage 1

(ADDED: King County video, published day after event)

If you’re noticing a foot ferry in Elliott Bay that didn’t appear to be one of the King County Water Taxi fleet – that’s the Kitsap Transit fast ferry Rich Passage 1. It’s out on the bay right now after an official showcase on the downtown Seattle waterfront this morning, with King County Executive Dow Constantine and County Council Chair Joe McDermott speaking, because the King County Department of Transportation’s Marine Division will be operating the 78-foot Rich Passage 1 for KT. Kitsap voters approved a sales-tax increase to fund the new service; it’s scheduled to start running between Bremerton and Seattle this year, Kingston and Seattle next year, and Southworth and Seattle in 2020. The Rich Passage 1 is to be the first of six boats comprising the Kitsap Transit fleet. It was built by All American Marine in Bellingham, which also built the Doc Maynard and Sally Fox for the KC Water Taxi service.

captainDave January 18, 2017 (12:34 pm)

I wonder how many people are going to think the name “Rich Passage 1” has something to do with the price of fares or keeping poor people off the boat? (For those who don’t know, Rich Passage is the narrow waterway between Port Orchard and the Southwest side of Bainbridge Island) where excessive waves from the older boats created shoreline erosion problems in Rich Passage. The new boat has a more efficient design that will make smaller waves. Here is an informative video about the new boat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMs8x4gwzLo

High-speed / high-efficiency ferries like this can change the demographics of Puget Sound to enable commuting from lower cost areas that were previously not practical. And the best part is that the water “roadway” already exists! It would be great to see foot ferry docks all over Puget Sound like they had a century ago.

Kathy January 18, 2017 (1:09 pm)

Do you think the fares will be the same as the car ferry? $8.20 per adult, $4.10 for over 65/disabled, $1.00 bicycle surcharge? Also, will the fee (or part of it) transfer from the West Seattle Water Taxi if you use an ORCA card? One time I took my bike on the WS Water Taxi, took the car ferry to Winslow on Bainbridge Is., and put my bike on the Kitsap shuttle to Bloedel Reserve Gardens. My transfer from the Water Taxi was still good for the fare on the Kitsap shuttle!
- Eric January 18, 2017 (2:19 pm)
  
  Don’t know if anything has changed, but the numbers i’ve seen before were $12 for a round trip (so more expensive than the car ferry)
  
  Older info from June
  
  http://www.kitsaptransit.com/uploads/pdf/pof-flyer.pdf

Kathy January 18, 2017 (1:00 pm)

If the schedules are synched with the West Seattle Water Taxi, this will provide a convenient way to get to the Kitsap peninsula from the West Seattle peninsula.

ImmaMom January 18, 2017 (1:12 pm)

Didn’t the backup water taxi boat (used before the new boats came into service) come from kitsap county bc they discontinued service?

WSB January 18, 2017 (1:15 pm)

Partly. It was operated by the Port of Kingston, not Kitsap Transit. Backstory is in this report from 2013:
https://westseattleblog.com/2013/03/finalized-spirit-of-kingston-will-be-new-west-seattle-water-taxi/

D January 18, 2017 (5:39 pm)

Anyone know if fares will be covered with an ORCA passport? Currently the WS and Vashon water taxis are, but the other cross sound ferries are not.

Kathy January 18, 2017 (11:20 pm)

Kitsap Transit uses ORCA:

http://www.kitsaptransit.com/fares/orca

Kathy January 18, 2017 (11:27 pm)

Washington State Ferries also accept ORCA:

https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/infodesk/FareInfo.htm

D January 19, 2017 (7:49 am)

Thanks Kathy. You’re right that the Washington State Ferries accept ORCA. But they only the accept the epurse (money that you load on your card), not the passport. The passport is provided by many employers and gives unlimited rides on buses, link, sounder, and water taxis. It also includes the current Kitsap foot ferries to Bremerton (from Port Orchard and Annapolis), as you also mentioned above. This new Kitsap foot ferry isn’t listed on the website describing the passport program, but I was wondering if that’s because they don’t intend for the ORCA passport to cover fares, or if the page simply hasn’t been updated given that the service isn’t operational yet.

See here: http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/MetroTransit/ORCABusinessPassport/employees-orca-card/using-business-card.aspx

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