Five days a week for more than three decades, Greg Nance’s father traveled by boat from Bainbridge Island to Seattle where he worked as a public defender.
“That’s how he put food on the table, that’s how he was able to send three kids to college,” said Nance. “With all the delays and cancellations we’re seeing now, that story is no longer possible.”
Washington’s ferry service has become notoriously unreliable in recent years as older ships carrying cars and passengers break down and sailings are disrupted due to crew shortages. Nance, a Democratic state representative from Kitsap, wants to quickly restart the region’s marine transportation system with low-cost passenger-only ferries.
Nance is the sponsor of House Bill 1923, a measure called the “Mosquito Car Act” to honor the many ships that more than a century ago plied the waters of Washington’s inland waters, carrying goods and passengers across Puget Sound.
While the Washington State Department of Transportation plans to replace its aging fleet with hybrid electric vehicles, the transition has been mired in delays and is facing major funding gaps.
Bill supporters argue that a fast-track, passenger-only ferry service would help workers commute, connect residents with health care, and boost tourism in hard-to-reach areas — while fueling the region’s thriving shipbuilding and marine repair industry.
Nance sees this bill as the first step in creating new policies that establish the state as an advanced manufacturing hub in the marine environment.
“For 15 years, policy makers across the country, we have been sleeping and walking,” he said. “China is building about 100 ships for every American fleet. That’s not good for this area. We need to get our edge back.”
Boat service outline
HB 1923 targeted state laws restricting new passenger ferry services. Kitsap Transit is authorized to operate high-speed, passenger-only ferries between Seattle and three cities — Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth — and smaller ferries connecting Bremerton to nearby cities. King County offers water taxis from Seattle to West Seattle and Vashon Island.
The new law does two important things:
- Allow port districts and city, state, municipal, county and unincorporated transportation systems to create passenger ferry districts and routes throughout Puget Sound and along the Washington coast.
- With certain restrictions, the new ferry system could levy a sales tax of up to 0.3%, apply commercial parking taxes, and collect passenger tolls and advertising fees.
The measure was first introduced last year, but stalled in the Senate. A revised version of HB 1923 cleared the House last week with significant bipartisan support and has a Senate committee hearing on Friday. It has tight approval deadlines with the legislative session scheduled to end on March 12.
Rachel Aronson of Washington Maritime Blue, a nonprofit that supports a sustainable maritime industry, said the organization “supports the economic and quality of life benefits that this bill can bring by supporting new passenger-only cruise lines.”
But the group, which oversees the Quiet Sound program that protects endangered orcas from noise disturbance, wants stronger protections for whales and is pushing for low- or zero-emission ships, says the change “positions Washington as a global leader in clean ocean innovation.”
Trails on the horizon
Regional leaders last year proposed an electric ferry service between Seattle and Tacoma, with plans for a pilot project this summer to handle the wave of tourists for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The timeline appears to be very tight – and the initiative will still need the approvals granted by the proposed legislation.
Some promising potential routes suggested by supporters of HB 1923 include:
- San Juan Islands to Sidney, BC
- San Juan Islands service to Bellingham
- Everett Harbor to South Whidbey
- Olympia to Sea-Tac via Des Moines, and another run
Peter Philips, a long-time spokesman for the Seattle marine industry, is a supporter of passenger boats and a supporter of the bill. He believes that ships can be deployed quickly.
“You could build one of those boats in 18 months in a Puget Sound yard,” he said. “All the technology is there.”
