The moat and the ferry run: Imagining public transit for Orcas Island | Column
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 15, 2026
By Colin Williams
We face real environmental and equity challenges around transportation on our islands. One of the best ways to address both impacts is by providing a base level of transit accessible to everyone. That’s what Friends of Rural Public Transportation is working toward.
Good transit design starts with evaluation. We use what we call “AAA Service” requirements — Affordability, Accessibility and Availability — to assess any transportation service. As a quick first step, think about a transportation service: What are the hours of operation? What places does it serve? Can everyone use it, or does it cater to a particular segment of the population? What are the implementation and operating costs?
But aside from evaluating the benefits of the service itself, what about the “side effects” of that service? Does that service have the potential to reduce the number of cars on our roads? Will that service increase visitor traffic? What is the “Carbon Cycle” impact of that service? Could that service have any impact on our ferry system operations?
Without support from incumbent transportation planners or county agencies — our outreach went largely unanswered — we’ve had to work from scratch. Here’s where our “cold start” planning has led us to two hypothetical routes.
Route 1: The “Transportation Moat” runs east–west from Doe Bay through Eastsound to Deer Harbor, connecting hamlets like Olga and West Sound along with Moran State Park and Turtleback Mountain Preserve. A single vehicle could complete the loop in roughly 90-100 minutes. We call it the “Moat” because it deliberately excludes the ferry landing, which some residents may actually see as an advantage in managing visitor volume. Its strength is connecting our communities to each other and to Eastsound.
Route 2: The “Ferry Run” covers the north–south corridor between Orcas Landing and Eastsound — our busiest roadway. It could extend to North Beach Road and Buckhorn. This route addresses real traffic needs and could pair with walk-on fare subsidies to reduce vehicle traffic on ferries. But on its own, it doesn’t provide islandwide connectivity.
Our view: If only one route were built, Route 1 would do the most to connect our community. But a sustainable system really needs both routes working together. Evaluated against our AAA framework, routes 1 and 2 combined offer the strongest balance of accessibility and availability at a reasonable cost.
We want to be transparent — plenty remains unaddressed. Vehicle selection, infrastructure costs, seasonal scheduling and flex-route possibilities all need further work. And we’re operating without data that should be available to us. But we believe this framework is a strong foundation.
We want to hear from you. Visit forpt.org for the full version of this article, our detailed AAA evaluation framework, cost analysis and background on our outreach efforts. You’ll also find information about upcoming community meetings and how to join our mailing list. You can also reach us directly at colin@forpt.org. Your input will make this plan better.
