I'd certainly want to look at that option. WSF deputy director Terry McCarthy said Dicks feared the money would go unused. If it is associated with the Southworth terminal as a Washington State Ferries project, it's not going to get executed. Kitsap Transit plans to build more modest terminals than the state had planned at Southworth and Kingston. It intends to upgrade the facility in Port Orchard and operate from there until Southworth facilities are in place.
Docks take longer to build than boats.
Whoever winds up operating the passenger-ferries will need a place to tie them up. If the public or the task force decides someone else should run the boats, at least the terminals will be further along. Without terminals, you can't have a program no matter who runs it. The first boat was due to arrive in December. The terminals were going to be built by then, but were delayed by the listing of a couple salmon species as endangered.