For most of us, the ferries are a part of the island’s charm. Those of us who don’t commute can still find the ride something of an adventure, particularly on those sunny days when the view ranks with any panorama on the planet. For commuters, the ride can be an extension of the office for work, the living room for visiting or the library for quiet reading.

None of those purposes is furthered by the ferry system’s “proposal” – we use the word advisedly – to sell advertising on the boats. By its nature, advertising must be at least somewhat intrusive – if it doesn’t attract attention, it doesn’t do any good. So even though the ferry system has renounced some of the more obnoxious possibilities, such as ads over the public-address system or “billboards” on the exterior of the boats, we question whether the distraction of advertising is consistent with anyone’s view of the ferry.

It’s not clear that the ferry system itself actually wants to sell advertising. Rather, the WSF was told by the legislature to look at ad sales as a possible source of revenue.

Preliminary results indicate that advertising wouldn’t be particularly lucrative. None of the revenue estimates from private firms that might handle the advertising on a concession basis were as high as $1 million, which hardly makes a dent in the $30 million annual operating deficit the system faces.

We don’t think the minimal projected revenue flow outweighs the detrimental effect that even limited advertising on the ferry-riding experience — whatever that experience may be. And once advertising starts, we’re not sure there’s any logical stopping place.

We can’t really fault the legislature for telling the WSF to investigate possible revenue sources. But in part, we see the directive as another evasion of the real issue, namely, the legislature’s continuing failure to come to grips with the state’s transportation system.

The problem is simple: money. The legislature has not replaced the $750 million in annual revenue that the value-based Motor Vehicle Excise Tax provided. This tax, it is worth remembering, was repealed by voter enactment of Initiative 695; when I-695 was declared unconstitutional, the legislature stepped in and repealed the tax. Unfortunately, the legislature hasn’t begun figuring out how to pay for the tens of billions of dollars in transportation improvements that our state needs.

What is most disturbing is that this confluence of the need for spending and legislative reluctance came about during flush economic times. It’s hard to imagine that a legislature lacking the political courage to retain the MVET at the height of the dot-com boom in 1999 can deal with those same issues in the face of the current recession.

Part of the problem, we think, is a widespread misperception that Washingtonians are unreasonably burdened by state taxes. Tax-cutter Tim Eyman continues to bleat that Washington is the sixth-most taxed state in the country. That figure, which Eyman gets from an outfit called the Tax Foundation, includes federal taxes – mainly income taxes – and reflects the state’s general prosperity.

When the Tax Foundation looks only at state and local taxes, however, Washington ranks a far less eye-opening 21st. More interesting still, Washington is one of the few states where personal income rose faster than state and local taxes for the decade ending in 1999 – a figure that does not reflect the repeal of the MVET.

Washington has a real problem in matching revenue with need. But the problem is one of voter perception and legislative courage. It’s time for big ideas, like serious consideration of a state income tax, rather than for tiny band-aids like ferry ads.