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Proposed Ferry System Cuts Unnecessary: DOT Ignoring Opportunity to Save $200 Million |
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Written On: December 19, 2002 |
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Written By: Richard Davis |
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OLYMPIA -- The Association of Washington Business (AWB) today criticized proposed service cuts announced by the state ferry system as premature. AWB, the state's oldest and largest business association and supporter of Referendum 51, believes there are cost saving alternatives which the ferry system refuses to consider because it is not their customary and usual way of doing business. Officials with Washington State Ferries, a division of the Department of Transportation (DOT), say voters' rejection of the gas tax increase in Referendum 51 will force them to eliminate passenger-only service, mothball or sell ferries, and reduce service on several runs. They say the drastic cuts are necessary for the department to maintain and replace an aging ferry fleet.
AWB President Don Brunell disagrees. He says the DOT is threatening major cuts while ignoring opportunities to save hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money. "At the same time they are threatening major service disruptions to save $6.5 million, they are refusing to consider a proposal that could improve service and save taxpayers $200 million."
Brunell said that a proposal to replace four small, outdated ferries with brand new Island Class boats built in Washington by a family-owned shipyard that hires union workers has been on the DOT's desk in Olympia for months.
Under the proposal, put together by long-time Tacoma shipbuilder J.M. Martinac, the state's ferry system could have four new 130-car, 1,200-passenger ferries with the first delivery set for 2004. Martinac and its partners propose to lease the ferries to the state and then turn over ownership in 15 years. They estimate their proposal will save Washington taxpayers $200 million - $80 million in construction costs, another $80 million in financing, and $40 million saved in lower maintenance costs.
To date, the DOT dismisses the proposal. Brunell says the DOT may be turning a blind eye to the proposal because it's not the way the DOT is accustomed to doing business. "They aren't used to having the private sector handing them a proposal already engineered, designed, and financed with all of their requirements built in."
Brunell, one of the proponents of Ref. 51 in the state's voter's pamphlet, said he heard too many complaints about the DOT just doing business as usual. "Things have to change at the DOT and in the ferry system. Whether it is Martinac or some other shipbuilder who advances cost savings alternatives, officials at the DOT should open their minds and find ways to save taxpayers and provide services."
Brunell says the agency should not cut service until it has explored all money-saving alternatives. "Every time someone proposes budget cuts, state agencies threaten to cut the most popular services as a way to create a public uproar and put pressure on legislators. But that sort of 'business as usual' has to stop."
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