This state-run system ceased operations after a class-action lawsuit forced its vessels to slow down when traveling through Rich Passage to reduce wake damage.

Kitsap Transit briefly operated its own passenger ferries from 2004 to 2007, but failed to receive voter approval for two sales tax funding measures.

The agency commissioned a low-wake vessel, Rich Passage 1, which was used from 2011 to 2012 for research and trial runs that determined it could operate at high speeds without creating a damaging wake.

[14] In March 1999, a group of 113 Rich Passage residents filed a class-action lawsuit against Washington State Ferries, seeking restitution for damaged waterfront properties that had been affected by wakes from the MV Chinook.

[15][16] An injunction from the King County Superior Court in July forced the ferries to slow to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) in Rich Passage, adding an extra 10 to 15 minutes to the Seattle–Bremerton run.

[21] Voter rejection of 2002's Referendum 51, which would have funded the replacement of car ferries with a gas tax, led the state to consider eliminating passenger-only service to Bremerton and Vashon Island to make up for the shortfall.

[43] The 118-passenger, 78-foot-long (24 m) vessel, named Rich Passage 1, was built in Bellingham by All American Marine and uses a lightweight composite body and hydrofoil to reduce weight and minimize wake.

[48] Rich Passage 1 performed 35-minute crossings between Bremerton and Seattle, traveling through Rich Passage at 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph) and the rest of the route at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) to reduce fuel consumption; the vessel reportedly created a wake "half that" from a larger automobile ferry and was found to have successfully operated without damaging beaches and bulkheads during full-speed tests.

[51] Operating costs for Rich Passage 1 were funded by federal grants as part of the study, but expired at the end of the passenger service trial in 2012.

As a result, the vessel spent several years in out-of-water storage, with the exception of infill trips for Washington State Ferries routes and periodic test runs.

[53] In 2015, Kitsap Transit drafted a business plan for a "fast ferry" system serving Bremerton, Kingston, and Southworth from Seattle, funded by a local sales tax and fares.

[54] The Kitsap Transit board voted in April 2016 to place a 0.3 percent sales tax on the November 2016 ballot that would fund a three-route passenger-only ferry system to begin operation in 2017.

[55] The ballot measure, the third overall on passenger-only ferries in Kitsap County,[56] was approved by 51.7 percent of voters on November 8, 2016, with the collection of sales taxes to begin the following April.

[60] Due to multiple and repeated issues with Rich Passage 1 in its first six months of service, causing delays or cancellations to ferry trips, Kitsap Transit began negotiations with King County to lease Spirit of Kingston as a backup vessel.

[61] The Spirit of Kingston entered service in March during a week-long repair of Rich Passage 1, but was recalled by King County for use on the West Seattle Water Taxi.

[62][63] The Kingston route began service on November 26, 2018, using MV Finest, a former NY Waterway catamaran acquired and refurbished by Kitsap Transit earlier in the year.

[74] The routes generally run during peak periods on weekdays and have additional trips on Saturdays during the summer season to cover gaps in Washington State Ferries sailings.

[77] The Reliance features the same hydrofoil design as Rich Passage 1, but was built lighter and with a less powerful engine to comply with federal emissions standards.