State Transportation Commission will hold a hearing for ferry fare proposal in Seattle, Sept. 8

The Washington State Transportation Commission is holding a formal public hearing regarding proposed ferry fare adjustments next week in Seattle. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, September 8, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Puget Sound Regional Council, 1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle.

After listening to public comment on the proposal and taking into consideration the input from public meetings on the Kitsap Peninsula, in the San Juan Islands and on Vashon Island; and from comments received by mail, e-mail and phone, the Commission is scheduled to vote to either adopt or modify the fare proposal at the close of the public hearing.

Any new fares or policies would go into effect October 11, 2009. The entire fare proposal can be found on the Commission’s Web site at www.wstc.wa.gov

The proposal includes these elements:

Applying a 2.5 percent across-the-board general fare increase.
Making the in-need organization discount permanent (now a pilot program).
Allowing WSF to collect between 25 to 100 percent of the applicable fare as a non-refundable deposit for advance vehicle reservations on routes with a reservation system. This would be a pre-payment of a portion of or the entire fare and is not an additional fee.
Eliminating the tollbooth surcharge for multi-ride fare purchases (which had not been implemented).
Moving toward further implementation of tariff equity affecting San Juan inter-island fares by adding 5 percent on top of the 2.5 percent general increase.
Allowing WSF flexibility to enter into agreements with fire districts for free passage when on emergency calls in lieu of payment for fire protection services at ferry terminals.
Applying a 10 percent “peak summer surcharge” to only single fare purchases (not applicable to multi-ride/frequent user fares). The peak summer surcharge would be in effect between the end of June and the day after Labor Day.

People who would like to comment, but cannot attend the hearing in Seattle, may call into the meeting via conference call at 712-432-1620 and when prompted enter PIN number 404317#. People can also submit their comments to the Commission via e-mail or telephone, no later than 5 p.m., Friday, September 4, 2009. Contact the Commission at: