This week the region welcomed its newest ferry, the Tokitae, which began service between Mukilteo and Clinton on Monday.
The Tokitae is the first of three new Olympic Class ferries being built to help modernize the ferry fleet.
The new ferry is made in Washington – one of three ferries that will be designed and built by Vigor Industrial in Seattle. The second ferry, Samish, is currently under construction with delivery planned for early next year.
There are concerns are that the Tokitae has a design that is causing some vehicles to bottom out and scrape as they go from ramps to the upper parking decks.
In the region’s transportation plan, the ferry system is both a marine highway and a high-capacity transit system. It functions as a vehicle-carrying marine highway that moves people and goods across Puget Sound and as a transit system moving thousands of passengers in a single ferry.
The Transportation 2040 plan calls for eight new ferries by 2030 to replace older vessels as they come due for retirement.
Ship and boat building, along with other maritime businesses, help to generate thousands of good-paying jobs in the region, according to a maritime economic impact study. The maritime sector is one of the key industry clusters identified in the Regional Economic Strategy.
