What happens to Puget Sound communities once a 20 to 30 minute ferry to downtown Seattle is offered? Well, Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth are about to find out as Kitsap County unveiled the first of three fast ferries connecting the county to Seattle.

Kitsap Transit’s new fast ferry service connecting Bremerton and Seattle started last week running weekdays and Saturdays. The new Rich Passage 1, a 78-foot speedy catamaran, has 118 seats for passengers and 88 of those seats can be reserved ahead of time, the rest are for walk-up riders. And the fare for the one-way 28-minute trip on the ferry will cost $12, however passengers ride free until August 1 when pass sales will be offered.

"This is the heart of maritime innovation in Kitsap County and we are so excited that the citizens of Kitsap County are taking another step forward in uniting our great state," said Governor Jay Inslee at the ceremony in Wednesday.

"This is one of the highest-tech ferries ever invented – it's going to travel at 38 to 40 knots through Rich Passage with minimal wake, it is a high-tech solution to a growth problem in Puget Sound. … And I look forward to the day when people can have reduced housing costs, who might be working in Seattle, or spending a half an hour commuting, and getting a very reasonably-priced waterfront property in Kitsap County—isn't that a great vision?"

RP1 was built with an “ultra low wake” design specifically for passenger ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, according to All American Marine, builders of the vessel. The water craft was built “specifically for low wake research purposes with the objective of creating an ultra-low wake energy hull design that can be used for high speed passenger transport applications operating on wake-sensitive routes,” All American Marine reports. The vessel is made of aluminum and composite, capable of reaching a top speed of 37 knots, with a cruising speed of 29 knots.

The fast ferry is operated by Kitsap Transit and is funded by Kitsap County voters approving a three percent sales tax increase in 2016. The fast ferry was planned to cut travel time by half. The Bremerton connection is the first of three fast ferries planned by Kitsap Transit with a Kingston and Seattle connection in 2018 and Southworth and Seattle in 2020.

However, the ferries are expected to do more than cut travel time, there are also speculation that the routes will bring economic benefit to Kitsap County communities by giving another housing option to people being priced out of Seattle. Essentially the fast ferry creates a less than 30-minute commute to Seattle from communities with median home price of $297,700 (NW Multiple Listing Service). Compared to King County’s median home price of $625,000 and Seattle’s home price of $722,250, to some Seattlites it appears claiming a stake in the old navy town is a no brainer. According to NWMLS data, there has been an up-tick in purchases in Bremerton since March of 2017, and with interest in the area, real estate brokers are taking notice.

Clinton Fink is a managing broker with Windermere Bellevue Commons and has been selling real estate in the area for 18 years. He said that it’s not surprising that buyers are looking for alternative areas in the region as prices in Seattle continue to rise.

“The housing inventory is low, which is making a high demand and lots of people are getting priced out, so they are looking to the outlier areas,” said Fink.

With thousands of people moving to Seattle each month many Seattleites are considering their commute options, and many of them are renters according to the a 2013 study by the Wagner School at NYU. The report used census data in growing metropolitan areas and reported that Seattle is the third fastest growing city for long distance commutes. For residents in the Seattle downtown areas commute times were 24.4 minutes but in Ballard and West Seattle they were 26 to 27 minutes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes.

Meanwhile, according to the United States Census Bureau the average gross rent in Bremerton was $1,034 in 2015. So as Fink said about people looking to outlier areas for lower prices, it’s speculated that more renters will find their way to Bremerton, just 28 minutes from downtown Seattle.

Still, others are skeptical. Pat Middlebrook moved to Bremerton in the early eighties. He later went to Washington State University. Then he moved to San Diego and eventually Phoenix. Now when he visits he takes the ferry to Bremerton to visit his mother.

Even with the faster ferries it’s not going to change anything in ‘Bummerton’ (Bremerton),” said Middlebrook.

“There’s nothing happening here but a navy shipyard, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.”

However, Kitsap County remains optimistic. The County estimates an economic benefit of $7.5 million in annual travel savings and approximately $1.8 million in greater employment opportunities for Kitsap residents, while improving business opportunities. They also anticipate a real estate benefit of nearly $10 million.

Look to Westside Seattle as this story develops.

For more information visit http://kitsapferries.com.