By DEAN ENELL

Need some good news? Here’s some from an unlikely source, on a timely subject. Our ferry system is going forward in a green fashion. As we can attest, the ferries have had rough sailing for a number of years with crew shortages, broken down boats and long lines, but guess what, there’s actually some light at the end of that tunnel.

The impetus comes from a prophetic state Legislature which says Washington State Ferries must transition to a zero-carbon-emission ferry fleet, including the accelerated adoption of both ferry electrification and operational improvements that will conserve energy and cut fuel use.

Importantly, lawmakers are not just blowing smoke. Our state is vested in the climate arena and the Legislature has initially allocated nearly $1.3 billion specifically dedicated toward the design and construction of new, green hybrid-electric vessels. As a bonus, delivery of the hybrids could be in 2028, which is sooner than a traditional ferry. The first scheduled recipient is beautiful Clinton, which is in line to get some electrification as well.

It’s worth noting that around $500 million of the above comes from the Climate Commitment Act, which was preserved when we voted down Initiative 2117 in November. Yea for us.

The ferries are a climate target since State Ferries is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases within our State Department of Transportation. Those boats burn 19 million gallons of diesel and release emissions equivalent to 22,000 homes or 40,000 cars/year. To get the state funding mentioned above, legislation says State Ferries must reduce those emissions by 76% by 2040, on the way to becoming an emission-free ferry fleet by 2050.

The current action plan requires:

Converting six existing vessels to hybrid-electric power;

building 16 new hybrid-electric vessels; and

adding shore charging to 16 terminals (Clinton being one of the first).

But there are some weeds growing in the above rose garden. The ferry long-range plan says we’ll see ridership grow by 37% between 2006 and 2030, so those long lines that haunt us will persist even with more boats and crews. That plan also says we gotta move more people and fewer 3,000-pound cars.

Let’s quit pretending these boats are floating bridges used to move cars from one packed roadway to another on a different shore. Realistically, just as we couldn’t build enough freeways to handle the cars (hence light rail), we can’t expand the boat crossings to accommodate increased autos.

Although State Ferries has not addressed this strategy, others have. In August, Community Transit christened the #117 bus which meets most boats in Mukilteo and whisks walk-ons to the new Lynnwood light rail station. Hopefully the use of public transportation will attract more users that have grown tired of the hours-long car lines on both sides.

Recently, a Vashon group launched an impressive “Fix the Ferries” effort to attract attention and address their issues with State Ferries and the state Legislature. This was reported in the Nov. 15 issue of The Record and presents a viable avenue for remedial action.

Thanks to the News-Times for excellent additional coverage on this subject in the May 31 edition.

The Puget Sound region has spent many billions on that light rail you see snaking down the I-5 corridor from Lynnwood to south of the airport. If we can accomplish such a feat, solving our ferry crisis has a future.

Dean Enell is the chairperson of the Clinton Ferry Advisory Board and a board member of Whidbey Climate Action.