PORT TOWNSEND – A $10 or $20 ferry reservation fee, proposed on top of a 4 percent fare increase, for the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry run was a little much to float all at once for some at a public forum Tuesday night.
But Washington State Ferries officials, including a forthright state Transportation Commission Chairman Richard “Dick” Ford, left many of more than 30 people applauding at the end of the forum at Fort Worden Commons.
Ford defended the 4 percent fare increase, proposed to go into effect May 1, although the Tariff Policy Committee recommended a 2.5 percent increase to the transportation commission.
In general, Ford said, the aging ferry system is already costly and “pretty well subsidized.”
Since losing motor vehicle excise tax funds with voter approval of Initiative 695, the ferry system has been adapting to a dramatic decline in revenues, said Ford.
The system’s dedicated state taxes and expected operating revenues – with no fare increases – leave an unfunded balance of $23.6 million, he said.
