By Paul Brodeur, Marine Division Director The Marine Division’s back-up water taxi vessel, the MV Spirit of Kingston, will be going into a planned, five-week maintenance period beginning Sunday, March 12th The 12-year-old, aluminum-hulled catamaran will have new propulsion engines installed, replacing the current, worn out machinery. The new diesel engines will meet the latest…
Regulars on King County Water Taxi’s Vashon Island route know them well: glossy wooden cribbage boards stationed at one of four seating areas in the lower passenger deck of the MV Sally Fox. On almost every run, enthusiasts of the popular card-and-board game can be seen huddled around one of these game boards, studying their…
Although an overturned fuel tanker turned some of Seattle’s busiest roads into parking lots Monday, King County Water Taxi delivered (lots of) West Seattle riders home congestion-free. The Water Taxi carried 1,200 riders on Monday’s evening commute. The typical number of riders for the route during a Monday evening commute last February was 366! What…
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln invented a flotation system to help get riverboats over sandbars? Luckily, we don’t need such a system, given there aren’t many shoals in the middle of Puget Sound. Still, we will join the rest of America in honoring Presidents Lincoln and George Washington for their contributions. That means…
By Paul Brodeur, Marine Division Director Keeping riders and crew safe is Job 1 for us here at King County Water Taxi, so when a national organization recognizes one of our team member’s efforts, we humbly accept the accolades. Ron Panzero, Operations and Maintenance Manager for the Marine Division, was awarded the Roger Murphy National…
SEATTLE – King County Executive Dow Constantine welcomed elected officials from Kitsap County today at Colman Dock in Seattle after the ceremonial first sailing of Kitsap Transit’s fast ferry, setting the stage for the launch of fast-ferry service this summer between Bremerton and downtown Seattle. Just before 11 a.m. today, Constantine welcomed Bremerton Mayor Patty…
By Paul Brodeur, Marine Division Director By the time the sun set on 2016, King County Water Taxi saw the largest annual ridership increase in our history. Year-end counts show a record 601,942 boardings – a figure that shatters our previous record of 515,207 in 2015. That also represents a record increase of 86,735 riders…
It’s been a banner year for ridership for the King County Water Taxi and we reached a major milestone Wednesday night. The system carried its 600,000th rider for 2016! According to crews, we hit the magic number during the West Seattle route’s outbound 4:45 p.m. sailing. That means the Water Taxi has handily smashed its…
Here’s a holiday reminder for Water Taxi users. The Vashon and West Seattle routes of the King County Water Taxi will not be in service on Monday, Dec. 26, the observed Christmas holiday or Monday, Jan. 2, the observed New Year’s Day holiday. Do you use Metro Transit? Buses will also be operating on holiday…
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