As I addressed earlier an economy consists of four things: the movement of goods, people, information, and capital. Get these things flowing around, and as many fingers on them as possible, and one has a very healthy economy.
With a healthy local or regional airport we can do three things very well when we are moving people, goods and capital. Bremerton National Airport should become a passenger airport. We are uniquely situated to host regional airlines like Horizon and if it is couple with train that connects Belfair to the Shipyard/ferry terminal we can have a lot of people coming to Kitsap for a lot of reasons. Those people bring capital, and capital brings jobs. ‘Nuff said.
The Washington State Ferry system is incredibly underfunded. As the debate rages over how we are going to pay for a new $4.5 billion 520 floating bridge we are having a hard time finding funding for our state ferries. $4.5 billion could put a new boat on every run and operate the system for decades. Yet, our boats’ maintenance is lacking. When was the last time a rust prone ferry was even repainted? Ferries in Washington provide 80 years of service. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge isn’t even 50 years old and we need to replace it.
The Washington State ferry is king!
Our priorities are screwed up, not that we don’t need a new 520 bridge, but that we pay $15 per vehicle and $7 per passenger and yet people on the Eastside are complaining about tolls of $1-$5 per vehicle. The ferries move the same number of passengers as a new 520 bridge would, and do so while saving fuel (compared to the 70 thousand vehicles a day that would have to theoretically drive that same distance that is currently covered by the ferries). The Ferries are uniquely identified with our state and are a large tourist draw. We need to treat our ferries better and make them more affordable for everyone.
Just think what those on the Eastside would be saying if they had to pay $30 per vehicle each way to cover the construction costs on both I-90 and 520!
An economy is defined by four things: The movements of goods, people, information, and capital. A 21st century economy cannot rely upon the infrastructure of the last century. If the infrastructure stagnates then the economy stagnates.
Kitsap county (heck, every community on Earth for that matter) needs to start planning for what we are going to do when fuel prices reach $10 a gallon or more. We need to start constructing light rail to move our 300,000 residents around without the use of an automobile. Rail lines from the Bainbridge ferry to Tacoma, connecting Suquamish, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Bremerton, Port Orchard and Gig Harbor along the way are needed. Including a way to get shipyard workers from Belfair to the yard in Bremerton (anyone who has been in downtown Bremerton knows what a traffic nightmare shift change at the yard can be; couple that with the ferry getting out, and yikes!).
A project like this is expensive, but you do you know what is more expensive? Building it when gas does cost $10 a gallon!
We have options. Our neighbors in Port Angeles have a little company called LevX that designs mag-lev trains that require little energy and are relatively inexpensive to build. We can’t wait for someone to do these things for us. To be great, we must do great things!
