Rush-hour commuter showdown: Bremerton vs. Eastside

If you work in Seattle, you likely spend a lot of time thinking about your commute: The right time to leave, the best routes, the time you could be spending doing something (anything) else.

This week, we were thinking about the different commutes around the city, in particular the trip in from Bremerton using the new Kitsap Transit fast ferry, which debuted earlier this week. We wanted to see if crossing Puget Sound during morning rush might rival an overland commute from roughly the same distance.

We thought a race might be in order.

Four SeattlePI staffers broke into pairs, with both teams departing at exactly the same time for a race to the P-I globe on Elliott Avenue.

Reporter Stephen Cohen and photographer Genna Martin struck out from the Eastside, while reporter Daniel DeMay and photographer Grant Hindsley hopped on the new ferry from Bremerton.

At 8 a.m., the race was on.

Team Bremerton

Near the end of a short line, we boarded the Rich Passage I and found our way to the front, where seats were still available. At 8 a.m. sharp, deckhands tossed the lines and the boat moved off the dock. The 118-passenger boat felt full, but not crowded, and deckhand John Pizzariello said no one had to be turned away (though all 88 reservations had been used the day before).

The Rich Passage I is an interesting boat. It’s a catamaran designed to produce a low wake while still traveling at fairly high speeds (the boat cruises at around 37 knots, or about 43 mph). State-run foot ferries traveled the narrow Rich Passage waterway throughout the 1990s, but eventually were canceled after property owners sued over beach damage from the boats’ wake. The Rich Passage I uses a hydrofoil (a sort of underwater wing) to lift the boat up during high-speed cruising, leaving less of the boat in the water and thus producing less wake.

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The pilot turned the vessel around and set off toward the boat’s namesake waterway at a fast clip. From the view of the 78-foot aluminum-hulled ferry, the speed seemed very fast, and it certainly is compared to Washington State Ferries on the same route, which max out at around 16 knots. As such, the Kitsap foot ferry makes the trip in about 30 minutes while the Washington State Ferries boat does so in an hour.

As we passed a state ferry going the opposite direction, it appeared as a lumbering behemoth compared to our light craft.

There’s a price to riding on the accurately nicknamed fast ferry. A round-trip will cost $12 starting in August (it’s free for the month of July), compared to $8.20 for an adult passenger aboard a state ferry. Fares aboard the fast ferry, however, can be discounted by half for qualifying low-income residents through a reduced fare ORCA card. Washington State Ferries doesn’t give discounts based on income.

Team Eastside

We chose our departure point -- a Starbucks on Lakemont Boulevard Southeast just across the Sammamish border in Bellevue -- based on the fact that it's roughly equidistant to the P-I globe from the Bremerton ferry station (about 13.1 miles as the crow flies). Also, Starbucks seemed like a natural point to start a commute into the city, and there was a really cute dog outside.

We were not confident about our chances of winning.

"I think we're going to sit in traffic for a while," Genna said. "We're going to see a lot of tail lights."

Once we got word that Team Bremerton had pushed off from the ferry dock, we got on the move, pulling onto Lakemont and heading toward Interstate 90. After crossing under the highway -- and with Cheap Trick's "Surrender" on the radio -- we hit the roundabout and turned onto the on-ramp, where we were faced with a moral dilemma: Do we use the HOV lanes or not?

Of course we did. Despite our lack of confidence, we were in it to win it. We reasoned that carpooling -- like taking any form of mass transit, ferries included -- is an alternative to driving alone.

Also, the rules of this exercise were vague, so we took advantage.

We positively flew until hitting our first congestion about five minutes into the drive as I-90 approached Interstate 405, which was to be expected. Even then, we kept on moving down the HOV lane. A digital board displayed a speed limit of 55 miles per hour for us, 40 for the poor souls driving alone.

As we drove past the 405, the speed limit rose to 60 for all lanes. We discussed how Seattle seems to be becoming commute-obsessed.

"In L.A. everyone does route-talk. Everyone talks about how they get to places," Genna said. "That's what we're going to become here pretty soon."

Commuters board Kitsap Transit's new fast ferry, the Rich Passage 1, on Wednesday, July 13, 2017. Commuters board Kitsap Transit's new fast ferry, the Rich Passage 1, on Wednesday, July 13, 2017. Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close Rush-hour commuter showdown: Bremerton vs. Eastside 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

Team Bremerton

Ten minutes into our speedy trip, we were already halfway through Rich Passage. The ride was relatively smooth, except for some movement as we crossed the light wake of the state ferry we had passed. I held my phone tightly as I took some video from the side deck and was rocked against the cabin twice. Pizzariello said he hadn’t seen any serious seas yet, but expected things could get a bit rougher in high winds.

At the 12-minute mark, we rounded the last curve out of Rich Passage and I spotted the Seattle skyline. From my comfortable seat, I felt confident Grant and I would be sipping coffee at the P-I globe awaiting Genna and Stephen’s tardy arrival.

Team Eastside

Ten minutes in, we arrived at Mercer Island. We were both pleasantly surprised -- and perhaps a little unnerved -- by the ease of the commute to that point.

But sure enough, we saw our first sign of peril, a sign that read, "Reduced speed zone." The speed limit dipped down to 30 mph for the normals and 40 for the HOV lane. We pressed on a little nervously.

Team Bremerton

Around the 20-minute mark, I struck up a conversation with Ryan Sjoberg, who was saving a heap of time commuting from Port Orchard using the new ferry service. He had been taking the Southworth to Fauntleroy ferry and then the King County water taxi to get to his job in Pioneer Square, usually eating up an hour and 45 minutes in the morning and somewhat longer in the afternoon.

His new commute, using the Annapolis foot ferry (also operated by Kitsap Transit) to Bremerton and then the new fast ferry, was shaving 40 minutes off his morning commute and a bit less in the afternoon, he said.

Team Eastside

The reduced speed zone was much ado about nothing. Twenty minutes into our journey, we left the comfort of our HOV lane to head onto Interstate 5 northbound, where we finally got caught in some congestion. Still, it felt like we were making good time and we were feeling downright cocky about our chances.

"It feels like some of the myths I've had about living out in the suburbs have been slightly dispelled," I said.

"We're like 'Mythbusters,'" Genna said. "Debunked!"

Though the highway was crowded -- and though Seattle drivers still haven't figured out how to zipper merge -- we never stopped moving on I-5. A few minutes after we got on, we exited to Olive Way.

Team Bremerton

At minute 28, we reached the dock, and I was certain we would be boarding a bus in eight minutes and shortly arriving ahead of our colleagues at the globe.

Then there was a hiccup.

The captain came on the loudspeaker to tell us that we would have to wait a few minutes because the vessel shared a gang plank with the water taxi and it was unloading at the moment.

And then we missed our bus.

Team Eastside

We passed the South Lake Union Whole Foods around minute 30, feeling assured of our imminent victory. We were like the Seahawks at the 1-yard line of Super Bowl XLIX.

What could possibly go wrong?

Team Bremerton

Instead of catching a bus on First Avenue, we had to make our way to Third and Marion, where we waited a few minutes for the 33, which made seven stops before we got off at Western Avenue West and Elliott Avenue West.

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Team Eastside

After a leisurely final 15 minutes or so, much of which was searching for a parking space near Elliott Avenue, we arrived victorious at the globe right around 8:50 a.m. Our coffees were still warm.

After a few minutes of self-congratulatory banter, we prepared ourselves to graciously welcome our defeated, downtrodden opponents.

We were both shocked that our drive in had been so quick. The lesson here: If you commute in on I-90, the HOV lane is an absolute lifesaver. Carpool if you can.

Team Bremerton

At about 9:03 a.m., Grant and I walked up to find boastful Stephen and Genna standing outside the old P-I building, jumping up and down in victorious joy (for the record, they did at least shake our hands honorably).

In all, the trip took us an hour and three minutes, about 13 minutes slower than our colleagues who traveled the same distance. Had we made our bus, we should have been just three minutes behind them.

All told, the trip was relatively easy and hassle-free, though expensive (once the ferry fares kick in, anyway) at about $17.50 per person (round trip at full ferry and bus rates).

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If you have a commute you think we should experience for our next rush-hour commuter showdown, email reporter Stephen Cohen at stephencohen@seattlepi.com.