PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend officials and some Puget Sound lawmakers said they’ll try to find alternative funding for the ferry system to prevent service cuts.
Preliminary budget plans would slice into the weeks of two-boat service on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route beginning in September 2013, as well as cut service elsewhere in the state ferry system.
Washington State Ferries proposed the cuts in response to a directive to cut $5 million, said David Moseley, state ferries system chief, in his newsletter.
Among the proposals is to trim four weeks of two-boat service from the Port Townsend-Coupeville route in both the fall and spring “shoulder seasons” — times of the year that lie between times of heavy tourist activity.
This year, the spring shoulder season was May 13-June 16, and the fall shoulder season is Sept. 23-Oct. 8, according to Marta Coursey, state ferries system spokeswoman.
“So that would mean likely the first two or three weeks in June and the last week of September and two weeks or so of October” would see only one ferry rather than two plying the waters of Admiralty Inlet, said Tom Caldwell, chairman of the Ferry Advisory Committee in Port Townsend.
“Are there other items we can look at in the ferry system’s budgets to reduce that cut in two-boat service?” Caldwell asked.
The proposal will go to the governor to be considered for her budget proposal in December.
“It’s very preliminary,” Caldwell said.
“There’s time yet for the community to assess the situation, see what else can be done and make our case with legislators.”
Port Townsend Mayor David King said that if the proposal becomes reality, he wants to broach the idea of having two-boat service on holidays such as Memorial Day.
“The shoulder season is precisely what we’re trying to move traffic into,” King said.
“We’re trying to make things happen later into the winter and earlier into the spring, and this would affect that.”
Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, told the Kitsap Sun she’ll work to retain service on all routes, but added, “It gets a little old to have to fight the same battle every year.”
Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, described the ferry system as “hanging in by its fingernails.”
“We’re right on the ragged edge of slipping backwards, and this is not the time to be cutting back,” he told the Kitsap Sun.
“We need to be investing in our ferry system.”
Other service reductions proposed are to cut one midday run and two late-night round trips on the Bremerton-Seattle route, eliminate two round trips per day on the Point Defiance-Tahlequah route and one late-night round trip on the Mukilteo-Clinton route, while the Anacortes-Sidney, B.C., and San Juan Island routes would extend winter service from 12 weeks to 20 weeks.
Service reductions would take effect Sept. 22, 2013, the Kitsap Sun said.
The Port Townsend advisory committee received word of the proposal just last week.
“It’s kind of a surprise,” Caldwell said.
“We waited five years to get two-boat service, and we get it for one season, and then they say they need to cut it.”
The route operated with one ferry after the aging Steel Electrics were taken out of service until the state constructed the new car ferries to run between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island.
This summer, the combination of two-boat service, an efficient ferry reservation system, downtown renovations and warm weather led to “more visitors in Port Townsend,” Caldwell said.
“It’d be nice to have a few years under our belt to see if the economy would spin back with two-boat service.”
He said the advisory committee and other officials “understand the predicament the ferries are in, and we want to work with them.
“We want to help them but without impacting our level of service.”
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.