Metropolitan King County Council
516 Third Ave., Rm. 1200
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-296-1000
Toll Free: 800-325-6165
TTY/TDD: 206-296-1024
Fax: 206-296-0198

council@kingcounty.gov
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About the King County Ferry District

The Metropolitan King County Council created the King County Ferry District on April 30, 2007, to expand transportation options for county residents by enabling potential operation of passenger-only ferry service to various parts of the county, including service to Vashon Island, the Eastside, and South Puget Sound.

All 9 members of the Council sit as the District's Board of Directors.

The District would potentially support operation of Vashon-Seattle passenger-only ferries, year-round Elliott Bay Water Taxi service, and a Kirkland-to-University of Washington demonstration route; conduct feasibility studies of future routes; and establish a modest capital fund for better boats and dock facilities. Other potential destinations that could be served include West Seattle, Des Moines, downtown Seattle, North Bay, Magnolia, Shilshole, Shoreline, Lake Union, North Renton, and Kenmore. Depending on the results of a potential feasibility study for passenger-only ferry service for South Puget Sound, additional service could be developed linking King County with Gig Harbor and Tacoma.

Under legislative authority to counties provided by the state in 2003, local ferry districts receive funding for operations through a property tax levy. The King County Ferry District will refine costs and schedules in anticipation of setting a rate later in the year sufficient to provide the services decided upon.

State and federal funds have already been allocated to construct new dock facilities in West Seattle and Vashon. The proceeds from the sale of the state’s current passenger-only ferries, estimated at more than $5 million, have also been pledged to the governmental entity that assumes Vashon service.

The new Ferry District will initially examine a business plan for Vashon Island passenger-only ferry service developed last year by the King County Department of Transportation, along with two alternative routes serving Vashon Island, two operating options for the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, and a possible demonstration service across Lake Washington.

Waterways such as Puget Sound and Lake Washington served as the first major transportation routes in the area. King County began operating seasonal water taxi service across Elliott Bay in 1997, a service that by 2006 carried a record-high 122,000 passengers between West Seattle and Pier 55.

In 1993, the Washington State Ferry System produced an implementation plan that called for expanded passenger-only ferry service in Puget Sound. In 1998, voters approved Referendum 49 to provide a state funding source for expansion of the state’s passenger-only ferry fleet, funding that was reduced the following year by passage of Initiative 695.