Jean Alden, Skagit County Public Works, provided ridership statistics that give us a first glimpse of the effects of the January 1 fare increases.

(Vehicle and passenger trips to Guemes Island in the month of January.)

*January 2004 is a better comparison to last month since the car ferry was out of service for five days in January 2005.

Ms. Alden also reported a 52% increase in riders paying cash fares, however:

January 2005: 10,659 • ••January 2006: 16,277 • ••Difference: 5,618

Cheryl D. Lanier, Skagit County Administrator of Elections & Recording, reports the number of registered voters in Precinct 127-Guemes Island:

2003: 451 • ••2004: 584 • ••2005: 576 • ••2006: 579

Then again, as Mark Twain pointed out, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”.