On Sept. 17 and 18, two meetings focused on transportation will bring the issue front and center to San Juan County islanders.

“It’s not about tomorrow, it’s about now,” declares the Web site and postcard from the Transportation Summit organizers.

The Sept. 17 Transportation Summit, at the San Juan County Fairgrounds in Friday Harbor, promises to be “a dialogue among citizens, policy makers and transportation providers to explore economically and environmentally sustainable multimodal transportation solutions for San Juan County.”

The Summit will conclude with a meeting of the Wasnington State Transportation Commission to discuss Long-term Ferry Funding and the customer survey with Dan O’Neal, Chairman of the Commission, and Bob Distler, Commission member from Orcas Island.

The next day, Thursday, Sept. 18, the Transportation Commission will conduct a Special Meeting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the Council Hearing Room at 55 Second St., Friday Harbor. The San Juan County Council and Ferry Advisory Committee will participate from 10 to 11 a.m.

Bill Watson, Program coordinator of the San Juan County Economic Development Council – one of the three main sponsors of the Transportation Summit – said, “Transportation is such a critical element to our economic well-being on the islands, being that we are geographically disconnected. The Summit will explore what vehicles are economically viable and the challenges existing businesses face.

“Look at all the commercial traffic that comes across the ferries – if they’re 10 minutes late for the boat they might get here three hours later. Most businesses island centric as a result of [the difficulties of inter-island traffic].

The San Juan County Economic Development Council is a non-profit corporation recognized by the state of Washington as the associate development organization (ADO) for San Juan County.

The other main sponsors are the Port of Friday Harbor and Cascadia Center for Regional Development, involved in regional transportation and sustainable development issues “in the Cascadia Corridor, Puget Sound and in the U.S.-Canadian cross-border realm,” according to the center’s website. Cascadia promotes U.S. efforts to reduce reliance on foreign oil, including the earliest possible development and integration of flex-fuel, plug-in, hybrid-electric vehicles.

Watson says the regional participation in the Transportation Summit has been planned for about six months as an “opportunity to bring the community together to lay the foundation of community input.

Other sponsors of the Summit are Partner sponsors Town of Friday Harbor, San Juan Island Library, San Juan County, San Juan County Visitors Bureau, Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce and San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce.

Service Sponsors are Anne Sheridan Photography & Design,Friendly Isle Charters, Orcas Island Shuttle, Rockisland Technology Solutions, San Juan Transit, SanJuanIslandsTV.com, and San Juan Public Access Media.

The Summit is encouraging people to take alternative means to travel to the conference, and has arranged for local transit providers to provide free service to the ferries and from Friday Harbor to the County Fairgrounds. Orcas Island Shuttle will pick up Summit participants at the Outlook Inn in Eastsound at 7 a.m. and returning them from the 5:35 p.m. ferry leaving Friday Harbor. Friendly Isles charter bus service on Lopez Island will provide a similar shuttle.

San Juan will run free shuttles from Friday Harbor to the fairgrounds on Sept. 17.

Presenters from throughout the NW will share their thoughts about multi-modal approaches to the transportation needs of residents and visitors to the San Juan Islands. Presenters include WSDOT staff, Washington State Transportation Commission members, Ferry Advisory Committee members, County Council members and policy leaders, who will meet with the public in informal “World Café” conversations.

The principles driving the meeting are:

• Transportation is the number one issue impacting the economic sustainability of San Juan County’s communities and businesses and the everyday quality of life of residents.

• The role of intermodal transportation in reducing pollution and congestion will be largely determined by public policy at several levels of government and partnerships among various public agencies, private providers and the citizens of San Juan County.

The schedule includes a choice among two “conversations” in the morning between 10 and 11:30 a.m., two “conversations” in the afternoon from 12:30 to 2 p.m., two “conversations between 2:15 to 3:45 p.m., with the closing conversation with the State Transportation Commission on “Long Term Ferry Funding and Customer Surveys” between 4 and 5 p.m.

The “conversations” are as below:

10:00 to 11:30 a.m. time slot (pick one)

• Conversation 1: Car-free Travel To and From the County. This talk will feature a member of the The North Sound Community Connections Project, aka “the Farmhouse Gang,” a regional transportation planning group made up of representatives from cities, counties, port districts, transit agencies, railroads, bus, and other transportation modalities. The group has been around quite a few years, said Watson, meeting at the Farmhouse Restaurant off Highway 20 between Burlington and Anacortes.

• Conversation 2: Community Transit: What Does It Take?

12:30 to 2:00 p.m. time slot (pick one)

• Conversation 3: On Foot and On Bikes in San Juan County

• Conversation 4: Passenger Ferries – Can We Make Them Work for Us?

2:15 to 3:45 p.m. time slot (pick one

• Conversation 5: Tourism Transportation Management: From the Newest Scenic Byway to the 2010 Olympics

• Conversation 6: Inter-island and Regional Freight Mobility

4 to 5 p.m. “Long Term Ferry Funding and Customer Surveys.”

Throughout the day, exhibitors will be on hand in the Main Building of the Fairgrounds to display a wide variety of transportation resources, including electric vehicles, scooters, trails programs, airlines, rideshare programs. The emphasis will not be on Washington State Ferries, Watson says, and exhibitors can sign up at no charge.

FAC Chairman Ed Sutton commented on the Summit and the Sept. 18 Transportation Commission meeting, “I would hope we get a real good turnout. This is about more than the ferries, but covers transportation topics on a broader scale. The county has to get much more involved in discussing transportation and this is a really healthy discussion. Whether it’s free parking on the 4th of July weekend or alternatives to gas-powered vehicles, we have to discuss solutions, and the transportation summit is a great start.

“The second step is the meeting aboard the inter-island ferry on Oct. 6. It’s really important for people to participate, because their input goes to the Transportation Commission for final consideration before the next legislation session.”

Registration is free, but it is required by Sept. 12 to ensure lunch availability. A $5 donation will be accepted at the door.

For more information go to www.islandway.org/transummit, send email to transummit@islandway.org, or call Bill Watson, San Juan County Economic Development Council, 378-2906.