WASHINGTON — The cash-strapped Washington state
ferry system could receive more than $200 million in federal funding
over the next five years to help repair and maintain its fleet of mostly
older boats and improve aging docks and terminals under legislation
introduced Wednesday.
The bill, by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., would
provide more than $1 billion to the nation’s ferry systems, with half
allocated under a formula based on ridership and other factors and the
rest distributed through grants and congressionally directed spending.
With
the largest ferry system in the nation, Washington could receive $40
million a year under the formula. And with Murray as chairman of Senate
transportation appropriations subcommittee, even more might be targeted
for the state.
“Every weekend when I go home I have to ride a ferry,” said
Murray, who lives on Whidbey Island. “I know just how critical this mode
of transportation is to families in Washington state and across the
country.”
While the federal money will help, officials of the
state’s ferry system have estimated they eventually will need $3 billion
to meet projected capital needs. On average, the state’s ferries are 34
years old. Four boats that were 81 years old were recently retired,
putting a crimp in ferry system operations.
“This funding is
absolutely critical,” David Moseley, director of the state ferry
division, said at a press conference of the federal money Washington
would receive under Murray’s legislation. “This will go a long ways in
meeting the needs of the ferry system.”
The state’s 22 ferries ply
10 routes carrying more than 23 million people a year, more than
Amtrak. The ferries also carry roughly 11 million vehicles each year.
Nationwide,
ferry systems in 38 states from North Carolina to Alaska carry more
than 100 million passengers annually. Currently, about $67 million in
federal funding for ferries is available.
Moseley said none of the
federal money can be used to build new ferries for the Washington state
system. State law requires that any new ferries be built in Washington
state, and a legal opinion from the attorney general’s office ruled out
using federal funds for new boats. But Moseley said there are plenty of
other things the money could be spent on, such as parts for new ferries
like propulsion systems, maintaining existing boats and rehabilitating
docks and terminals
The Washington Legislature has provided
funding for the ferry system to build two additional boats, Moseley
said. The federal funding would provide additional financial assistance,
he said.
“This is a huge step forward,” Moseley said.
The
bill already has picked up bipartisan support with Alaska Republican
Sen. Lisa Murkowski as one of the original sponsors.
“This funding
could help us enormously,” Murkowski said at the press conference,
adding that the Alaska ferry system serves more than 30 communities and
operates on 3,000 miles worth of routes.
A similar measure
introduced in the House by Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., already has
attracted 18 co-sponsors, including some Republicans.
“For
thousands of people in my district, ferries are the only way to get to
work,” Larsen said, adding the bill would provide a “robust investment”
in the ferry system and would help spur an economic recovery.
Though
the measure was introduced as a standalone bill, Murray and Larsen said
it likely will be folded into a five-year transportation bill
reauthorizing highway and mass transit funding. Larsen, a member of the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he already has
talked with the panel’s chairman, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., about
ferry funding.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Murray said.
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