Rowland Ramble -

As a long time resident of Kitsap County and a past long time commuter to Seattle, I have been watching the insanity surrounding the Ferry System and I still cannot understand why some of the most logical solutions are never publicly examined. WSF likes to say that the only self sustaining system is the Bainbridge run so it makes sense to conclude that the shortened run and high capacity boats are the way to go. The unfortunate issue here is that the island holds the keys to unlock and resolve the problem faced by the WSF. The tiny two way road of the Agate Pass Bridge just isn’t a feasible route to take for an effective method of managing the traffic loads but a shortened route between East Bremerton and the Bainbridge Ferry run would be. The current route from the Bremerton Terminal and the Bainbridge terminal is time prohibitive when considering a drive to the self sustaining Bainbridge run from Bremerton. As a result, it made sense to spend the extra 30 minutes riding the Bremerton boats. As it is now, the Bremerton boats are broken, nasty and often staffed by ferry workers who appear to hate what they do for work. Based on what we are told, the Bremerton route pulls the WSF into the RED anyway. Why not increase the Bainbridge route to a 3 or 4 boat run filled with travelers/commuters from the entire Kitsap peninsula and shut the Bremerton Route down? This would easily be accomplished with a short floating bridge between Bremerton and Bainbridge. A fast foot Ferry could be implemented between Bainbridge and Seattle as well. This would eliminate the Rich Passage trouble we faced years ago over a fast boat and shore erosion. It would drastically improve the revenue stream into Kitsap county as more people would see Kitsap and a realistic community to live in. It would cut down on the Kitsap Brain Drain and might actually help bring money and talent into Kitsap County. As it is now, who wants to live in Kitsap County and use a Ferry System that is falling apart or fight traffic by driving south and then north to get to Seattle or pay the extortion fee to cross the toll bridge? The job market in Kitsap County is terrible and when you can’t find a job locally you must either move or commute. I for one decided to move to the Middle East for a good job for a year as a result of this ridiculous yet easily resolvable transportation issue faced in Kitsap. I am considering returning but I am not so sure I want to after discovering what is happening there. Yes, it’s that bad and you just don’t know it until you have tried something that actually works.