Whatcom County Council is recommending replacing the Lummi Island ferry service with a 20-car hybrid diesel-electric vessel.
The new recommendation is cheaper and smaller than the original plan for the Whatcom Chief replacement, which was set to be a 34-vehicle electric ferry.
Council members voted unanimously for the hybrid recommendation on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Funding discussions will take place in December while County Executive Sidhu Satpal will meet with ferry customers in January.
“This is a lot of what I’ve heard from the community: that they were asking us to study a smaller boat,” said council member Jon Scanlon.
County council members have wrestled for the past two years with replacing the aging Whatcom Chief. Proposed ferry projects have swung from the fully electric ferry idea to purchasing a 15-car diesel propulsion ferry. Hanging in the balance was a $25 million federal grant to replace the ferry so long as it was an electric-battery hybrid. It’s unclear if the grant could be used for a diesel-electric vessel.
The smaller vessel could make up to three trips an hour compared to two trips an hour the larger 34-car ferry offered, according to a memo from the Whatcom County Ferry Advisory committee.
“The smaller ferry can carry 60 vehicles in an hour; while the larger ferry can carry 68 vehicles per hour,” according to the memo. “Over a three hour peak period, the 20-vehicle ferry can carry almost 80% of the traffic that the large ferry can carry.”
The proposed cost of the new recommendation is half the cost of the 34-car fully electric ferry. The full electric vessel would cost around $93 million while the hybrid would cost around $42.8 million.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
