09/01/2009: "Here We Go Again On Ferry Fares"

(Bob Distler addresses the public)

The Washing State Transportation Commission came to San Juan County on Monday to ride the ferry and talk with the public on proposed increases and changes to ferry fares that will result in a 7.5% increase in fares for San Juan County riders.

Not many citizens took them up on the invitation. As usual, the meeting was held on a work day, and even so, one was trapped on the boat until it came back to whatever island they got on from, so a commitment to spend some hours in the middle of the day was required.

As for the comments, nothing -if anything- new was said. The public listed their concerns that San Juan County is the only county where the only choice of getting here is by boat or plane; and by the way, how come there is no charge for riding ferries in eastern Washington?

Orcas resident, and the Vice Chair of the Commission, Bob Distler responded to complaints that the proposed fare increases will have a major impact on the local economy, is he said, simply not true. Not true that is, unless paying a nickel more per $100.00 of groceries is a major impact.

Distler said he had conducted a study that showed the proposed fare increases, based on a standard of a certain truck size and load, and assuming the increase was passed on to the consumer, would only be -for example- a five cent increase to a $100 bag of groceries.

While no one countered the argument, there was skepticism expressed that it was a correct analysis, and Distler was asked to forward his calculation model to the County for their review.

Several members of the public also cautioned that there is a point where raising the fare decreases the ridership, which decreases the amount of revenue to the ferry system. The commission said they were well aware of that, had conducted research and studies, and used a formula to determine they “were not even close” to a point that ridership would fall off with an increase in ticket prices.

The need for a reservation system also came up again. The Commission said they were in the process of setting up a pilot program down sound as an experiment, and expect to have some form of a reservation system for San Juan County in place in the future.

Subtract out the county and town officials, and appointed advisory members, and by the time the ferry returned to Friday Harbor, only two or three members of the public remained.