As Capt. Aren Jensen maneuvered Kitsap Transit's first fast ferry away from the dock in Bremerton Wednesday, she thought about what service to Seattle will mean to her passengers when it starts on Monday.
It will "get people's commute down to a reasonable time," Jensen said.
The passenger-only Rich Passage 1 will make the trip between Bremerton and Seattle in 28 minutes, half the time of the car ferry.
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Kitsap Transit held a launch celebration on Wednesday, several months after county voters approved a sales tax increase for fast ferry service.
The ferry is designed to throw a low wake, after a previous attempt at passenger-only service damaged shoreline property in Rich Passage.
It also launches at a time of skyrocketing home prices in King County.
"We are now solving a housing problem with a fast ferry," said Gov. Jay Inslee.
Zillow puts the median list price of a home in Seattle at $650,000.
In Bremerton, it's $289,000.
"People who are priced out of the market over there can buy over here," said Judy Reets, managing broker for John L. Scott Real Estate in Bremerton.
Reets spoke in a newly-built, three-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot view<
Already, Bremerton agents are seeing more people from King County at open houses.
"I think that's just the tip of the iceberg," Reets said.
Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent, riding aboard the Rich Passage 1, said the service is "going to mean more people living here, and jobs."
Lent says in addition to providing new housing options for people who work in Seattle, the fast ferry service will help Bremerton attract new employers.
The Bremerton ferry is the first stage of Kitsap Transit's cross-Sound ferry plan.
Service between Seattle and Kingston is due to start in July 2018.
Service between Seattle and Southworth starts in 2020.
Cox Media Group
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