Port Townsend merchants feel loss of car ferry

[uppityperson]

Having the ferry gone is hurting and is impacting not just businesses, but many people here. There are ways to still get to PT or the Olympic Peninsula, and locals will be happy to see you. I don't mean to have this be just "promote PT and the Olympic peninsula", but also to note that more people are on the edge, financially, and something like having an access route to a town can be the thing that pushes many over the edge.

This may seem small pickings compared to floods, wind, slide damage recently, but I was downtown yesterday and was able to easily jaywalk without waiting and there were parking spots. This is the gauge of how busy downtown is. Usually this time of yr it is best to cross at crosswalks and the 1 streetlight is good for pulsing traffic, but traffic is way down. I have always felt having tourism as a primary economic focus of any town is bad since it can be so easily hurt, but here we are. Pulp mill, county seat, lots of stuff to do with boats (wooden and not), and tourism. Smaller towns down the peninsula (Quilcene, Brinnon) are also hurting due to loss of traffic, not as many people buying gas, snacks, food.


http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20071212/NEWS/712120307

PORT TOWNSEND - Merchants smarting from holiday business losses are expected to tell Washington State Ferries officials today that they need a vehicle ferry. Many are talking about layoffs or cutting back employee hours because of business they say they have lost since vehicle ferry service between Port Townsend and Keystone was stopped on Nov. 20. Passenger ferry service on the MV Snohomish hasn't helped they say, with numbers of riders on each run dropping from hundreds to dozens....

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"It really blows my mind," said Verraes-Landis, who has owned and directed Artisans on Taylor Street for three years. She has experienced a 30 percent loss during holiday shopping compared to the same time last year, she said. "There's a ripple effect to uptown as well as downtown."

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Mark Burr, who co-owns Water Street Brewing and Alehouse on Water and Quincy streets, said he and his partners have seen a 15 to 20 percent loss of sales compared to the holiday period last year. Staff has been cut back by 20 hours a day, he said...... "We all share the same fate," Fitzgerald said....

How to get here rather than Keystone ferry: Edmonds/Kingston ferry, Highway 101 should be cleared of debris from last storm soon, Canadians take the ferry from Victoria to PtAngeles.

[Suich]

1. I heard this am that there will be a passenger ferry

from downtown Seattle to Port Townsend starting tomorrow. Hopefully, that will help the merchants out!

:hi:

[uppityperson]

2. Yea! Very good, update. Car ferry back end of Jan, passenger to Stl now!

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=19546&TM=70898.52

Governor says a ferry will be rented to resume vehicle service here by late January; budget calls for construction of three new boats
Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed this morning, Thursday, Dec. 13, to invest $100 million in the Washington state ferry system to improve safety and increase capacity.

"We must act now to replace older ferries with newer, safer and more efficient vessels," said Gregoire. "The Washington state ferry system is an integral part of the Puget Sound's transportation infrastructure and a growing number of Washingtonians are coming to rely on them daily. I intend to maintain our current routes without sacrificing the safety of our citizens."

The governor's 2008 supplemental budget proposal of $100 million for the construction of three new ferries will allow the state to retire the 80-year old Steel Electric ferries, the oldest vessels in the fleet.

The governor announced that the state will rent a ferry from Pierce County in order to resume auto-service on the Port Townsend-Keystone route by mid-to late-January and that passenger only ferry service will be provided between Seattle's Colman Dock and Port Townsend during the holiday season....

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=19545&TM=70898.52

High-speed passenger ferry service between PT and Seattle is under way; Hanke's ferry from Hudson Point handles Whidbey Island run

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Puget Sound Express is using Hudson Point to continue passenger service between Port Townsend and Keystone, while the Washington State Ferries terminal here hosts a high-speed passenger service to downtown Seattle.

Puget Sound Express - operated by the local Hanke family - took over the state run between Port Townsend and Keystone on Thursday morning. The 49-seat Olympas uses the same revised schedule, with nine daily departures from Port Townsend.

Meanwhile, the high-speed, 149-seat Snohomish will depart Pier 50 at Colman Dock in downtown Seattle (the main WSF terminal) bound for Port Townsend. The passenger ferry slip is just south of the two main ferry slips at Colman Dock.

The Snohomish will operate four round trips per day between PT and Seattle. The trip takes about 90 minutes. The cost is $6.70, round trip.

Scheduled sailing times from Port Townsend are 6:45 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Scheduled sailing times from Pier 50 at Colman Dock in Seattle are 8:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.

WSF plans to operate the PT-Seattle passenger run from now through early January, and re-evaluate after the holiday season....

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

3. I hope emergency services are provided

That,s not a good position to be in at all.

[flamingyouth]

4. We're going to go up there after the holidays.

We'd been meaning to go up this fall but I've been sick. We always take the Kingston ferry and go across the Hood Canal bridge.

Honestly, I had no idea that that ferry brought so many tourists; I guess I'd never thought about it because I'd never ridden that route. I'd hate to see some of my favorite shops up there go out of business. It's sad. :(

[uppityperson]

5. UPDATE!!! Passenger ferry from Seattle-PT, 4/Day, $6.70 round trip

Sounds like this will be going until the end of the year. You can catch the shuttle to Point Hudson marina and catch another passenger ferry to Whidbey Island, shuttle to Coupeville, then reverse process. Or just stop in PT.
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Beginning today, December 13, 2007, WSF will begin shuttle service between Port Townsend and Seattle, with the first sailing leaving from downtown Seattle at 12:30 PM. The 149-passenger vessel, Snohomish, will now provide service four times daily between Pier 50 at Colman Dock in Seattle and the Port Townsend Ferry Terminal. Since November 27, the Snohomish has been operating between Port Townsend-Keystone. This service will be available until early-January.

“We wanted to do everything we can to help the community while there is no vehicle service on the route,” said WSF Deputy Executive Director Traci Brewer-Rogstad. “We plan to run this temporary shuttle service between Port Townsend and Seattle through the holidays and then reevaluate it in early-January.”

The travel time will be 90 minutes one way. Passengers will pay the regular cross-sound fare of $6.70 round trip and parking is available at the Port Townsend Ferry Terminal.

Scheduled sailing times are:

From Port Townsend From Seattle
6:45 a.m. 8:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m.
2:45 p.m. 4:30 p.m.
6:15 p.m. 8:45 p.m.

[flamingyouth]

6. That's so cool.

We don't really need a car up there (unless we're buying a bunch of stuff at that really amazing wood shop) but that sounds great. We'll have to check that out. :thumbsup:

[uppityperson]

7. Woohoo! I took it yesterday and it was really cool

fast, very smooth except when it turned to go across the swell, and it's free this weekend (at least was yesterday). It was very nice, but I don't think there is food service inside, but I'd recommend it as a fun trip to just ride across/down the water. $6.70ish is cheap for a 3 hour boat ride. I'd like to do it during the day now. If anyone comes over, drop me a pm and we can meet perhaps.