PORT TOWNSEND — If a trial run of a Kingston-Seattle passenger-only ferry on Saturday is successful, it could be a first step in creating weekend ferry service between Jefferson County and Seattle.
The trial run is strategically timed: Washington state is permanently retiring passenger-only ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle today.
Kingston Chamber of Commerce officials are sponsoring the ferry trips to promote a Kitsap Transit levy to launch passenger ferry service.
Port Townsend Chamber Executive Director Tim Caldwell said if Kitsap voters approve the levy on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, it would bring a commuter ferry service between three communities on the Kitsap Peninsula and Seattle.
On weekends, however, many of those ferries would sit idle with the lack of commuters.
Caldwell wants to keep their engines running and bring them to Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock and Port Townsend for weekend excursions.
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The rest of the story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition.