After nearly a decade of effort, Kingston’s new passenger-only ferry to Seattle is finally a reality. The new service, run by private company Aqua Express, was celebrated with a community open house and ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, January 15. Full-time, commuter-hour service began on Tuesday, January 18.

The road to establishing the new ferry service in Kingston was not an easy one.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Sonny Woodward of John L. Scott in Kingston and member of the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce’s ferry committee.

Kingston has been working to establish passenger ferry service since 1995 or 1996, estimated Woodward. In early 1997 the Kingston Chamber formed its ferry committee and tasked the committee to work to make the ferry a reality. Woodward and Tom Waggoner, owner of Kingston lumber and head of the Kingston Chamber’s ferry committee, described the committee members as “cheerleaders for the process,” keeping high-speed water technology in front of the county and state legislators.

The first major event the committee staged as part of its efforts was a ferry demonstration day in September 1997.

“We actually went into the ferry business for a day,” said Waggoner.

The committee leased a ferryboat from Seattle-based Clipper Navigation for the event and ferried passengers between Kingston and Seattle. That first event was well received in the community, and more than 1,000 tickets were sold. The event was videotaped and in 1998 the committee used that video as a lobbying tool, once again leasing a boat from Clipper Navigation, this time to travel to Olympia to distribute the video tape to every legislator in the state capital.

It seemed obvious, initially, that the eventual ferry service would be run by the state, and so the committee focused many of its lobbying efforts on state lawmakers. In 1999 the state did have sufficient funds to put the Kingston-Seattle ferry in place, but before the service could get up and running, new legislation was passed that gutted the funds earmarked for ferry use.

Hopes then turned to Kitsap Transit. That agency’s proposal ultimately failed, however, when, in November 2003, voters struck down a proposed tax increase designed to help pay for the ferry service.

It was shortly after this setback that private industry stepped in.

Clipper Navigation, Argosy Cruises, Four Seasons Marine Services, and Nichols Brothers Boat Builders — four Seattle-based companies that Woodward and Waggoner refer to as the “dream team of navigation” — joined forces to form the separate company Aqua Express Ferry Services, specifically created to provide passenger-only ferry service for the Puget Sound area.

In March 2004 the Kitsap Transit Board of Commissioners decided to allow private companies to establish foot ferry service from Kingston and Bremerton to Seattle, opening the way for Aqua Express to make its Kingston ferry plans a reality (Kitsap Ferry Company currently handles the Bremerton-Seattle route). In July Aqua Express mounted its second major hurdle, when the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission approved Aqua Express’ application to operate passenger-only ferry service from Kingston to Seattle.

The company originally planned to start service at the end of 2004, but delays in construction permits for the docking facility it needed to build necessitated its January 2005 start.

Woodward and Waggoner, long-time advocates for the service, couldn’t be more pleased. Having the additional service will be a significant lifestyle improvement for Kingston residents, they maintained, as well as for residents in neighboring communities, such as Hansville and Port Gamble.

It opens the doors for people to connect to Seattle without having to go all the way to Bainbridge Island,” said Woodward. “I think it’s going to change the dynamics of how people function out here.”

“This has been a true joint effort between private industry, the Port of Kingston, and Kitsap Transit,” said Waggoner

North Kitsap residents working in Seattle may be able to cut an hour or more from their daily commute, now that the Bainbridge Ferry is not the only option for traveling to Seattle.

To support this Kitsap Transit has actually revised a number of North Kitsap commuter bus schedules to coincide with the Aqua Express service.

Aqua Express — the name of the ferryboat as well as the company — will initially focus on commuter service, operating Monday through Friday, with three morning and two afternoon Kingston departures, and two morning and three afternoon Seattle departures. Updated schedules are posted on its Web site at www.aqua-express.com.

The boat, formerly Washington State Ferries boat Tyee, is a 94-foot catamaran certified to seat 320 total, with 250 of those seats being inside the boat’s two-level enclosed, heated cabin. The trip from Kingston to Seattle takes approximately 40 minutes and the ferry docks at Argosy’s pier, Pier 55-56, a “long block north” of the WSF ferry terminal, according to Brian Grantham, general manager of Aqua Express.

The ferry features deli-style galley service, including alcoholic beverages, catered by Purple Fig Catering of Port Orchard; coffee from the Coffee Exchange in Kingston (with free refills sponsored by Point Casino); as well as free Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer newspapers.

The company also has an additional boat available for use in case of sell-out commuter crowds or maintenance requirements.

Aqua Express has hopes to expand its service in the spring and summer, perhaps scheduling special ferries to sporting events, shopping excursions, and so on, said Grantham. But for now they are focusing on building weekday ridership as much as possible.

Woodward noted that because the process to get the ferry service to Kingston was so long, and faced a number of setbacks, that it might take some time before the service expands.

“They’re crawling before they’re walking,” he said.

“We need to build loyalty and trust,” agreed Grantham.
Grantham acknowledged that the success of the service is “kind of an unknown right now.” But with around $3 million invested in the venture, none of the founding partners of Aqua Express has any intention of walking away.

“We’re looking forward to being a part of the community,” said Grantham.