Yellow Pages
On April 29, U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Rick Larsen introduced the U.S. Ferry Systems Investment Act of 2009 that, if approved, will increase federal support for the country’s ferry systems and direct million of dollars to Washington State Ferries.
The bill could mean “almost triple the amount of funding for ferry systems nationwide,” according to David Moseley, WSF Ferries Division assistant secretary.
The Investment Act would invest $200 million a year in ferry systems starting in fiscal year 2010 and running through fiscal year 2015, making a “robust investment in the federal ferryboat program,” Larsen said. “It would also mandate that half of those funds be distributed by formula to help ensure that significant funding is directed to the largest and most important public ferry systems,” which WSF happens to be.
Larsen also spent part of last week addressing the Highways and Transit Subcommittee on its major surface transportation legislation and on his high priority project requests, which include ferries.
Larsen told the subcommittee he intends to request funding for the Anacortes ferry terminal.
The project has gone through several design changes and was scheduled to go forward last year but with WSF’s operating procedures under scrutiny by the state Legislature, the new terminal was put on hold. The Legislature recently passed a transportation budget that indicated the project could only start up again with federal funds.
“A new terminal is a sorely needed capital improvement for Anacortes” and would significantly improve efficiency for WSF, Anacortes Mayor Dean Maxwell said.
