SEATTLE — Tim Caldwell, general manager of the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce, came away from a Thursday passenger ferry forum energized, saying it was like “Christmas.”
He said he told the audience in the Port of Seattle chambers: “The chamber has $100,000. That’s our life savings. And we’re willing to wager it all” to launch passenger-only ferry service between the Port Townsend and Seattle.
Caldwell addressed Puget Sound regional leaders at a forum sponsored by Cascadia Center at Discovery Institute in Seattle to discuss passenger-only ferry operations on the region’s waterways as part of a Puget Sound Ferry Coalition meeting.
The forum invited Caldwell to speak, referring to him as a key player in advancing a regional network of low-wake, high-speed passenger-only ferries for Puget Sound.
“What’s really interesting is Puget Sound Regional Council has hired a consultant group to do a Puget Sound regional passenger-only ferry study of commuter routes,” Caldwell said.
The consultant recommends that Port Townsend be included in the program as a recreational route, he added.
Caldwell said that officials confirmed the chamber’s position that a Port Townsend-Seattle passenger ferry run, scheduled each Thursday through Monday, would require a fare box recovery rate of between 40 and 60 percent, plus contributions from community stakeholders.
