Following the results of a comprehensive survey of Islanders, Vashon’s community council is urging state ferry officials to reject the idea of higher fares for peak commute hours and offer discounts for walk-on passengers or those driving compact cars.

The 10-page position paper, submitted to state officials last month, also calls on the state to develop an “integrated transportation network,” coordinating schedules and fares for ferries, buses, carpools and other transit options.

Such an integrated system, the paper notes, represents “the single most important way to deal with the multiple challenges facing us and all Washington state citizens.”

The paper, written by retired Boeing executive Liz Otis and other ferry-service advocates, is part of the Island’s attempt to influence a number of far-reaching changes state officials are considering to shore up the financially ailing ferry system.

“The position paper, with the survey to back it up, has the potential to be a very strong tool for us,” Otis said. “It doesn’t take a huge voice but a consistent voice for the Legislature to take note.”

Vashon’s ferry-service advocates are the first in the region to offer up a position paper, she noted. Two other communities have initiated similar efforts, following Vashon’s lead, and the recently created Ferry Community Partnership, a consortium of ferry-service advocates throughout the region, has endorsed the concept and is encouraging other communities to also follow suit, Otis said.

“It’s possible we could have an even greater impact,” she said.

The position paper follows on the heels of a wide-ranging survey that took the Island’s pulse on a number of ferry and transportation issues. The survey, completed by 1,400 Islanders, was conducted by the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council’s transportation committee. Islander Vickie Mercer led the project, pouring countless hours into its creation, distribution and tabulation, Otis said.

Among the survey’s findings:

Nearly 70 percent said they would take the bus more often if ferries were met by a bus within 10 minutes of the ferry’s arrival;

Nearly 80 percent said they oppose “peak pricing” — charging higher fares for those who drive onto the ferry during peak commute hours — while 65 percent said they have already changed their schedules to ensure they’re not traveling during those peak hours;

More than 66 percent said they’d support lower fares for smaller cars;

Nearly 83 percent said they oppose building a bridge to connect Vashon to the mainland.

And in an indication of support for the lesser-used south-end route, more than 80 percent said that when the Tahlequah-Point Defiance route loses its only boat, as has happened recently, a boat should be taken from the three-boat north-end run and sent to the south end.

Mercer said she was heartened by the number of respondents and the quality of the survey’s findings — a response that has already caught the attention of ferry officials.

“I feel that the survey results are very strong. They show that Vashon’s community is forward-thinking,” she said.

A draft of the paper was written before the surveys were tabulated because of timing issues, Otis said. Ferry-service advocates felt they had to get the paper done in time to begin to influence state policymakers, who are in the final throes of determining a wide range of recommendations for the state Legislature to consider. Community council activists, at the same time, didn’t want to conduct the survey during the summer, when fewer Islanders are around, so they waited until September to begin the big task of issuing and tabulating the survey.

For the most part, Otis said, that approach worked fine; nearly every issue addressed in the position paper is supported by the Island’s survey results. The only difference is in the reservation system, which the position paper initially supported. Otis rewrote that section after the results from the survey came in, noting the Island’s opposition and adding that if the state were to adopt a reservation system, “it must be adaptable to the peculiarities of each route.”

Otis said the paper is an attempt at “pragmatic solutions” that took a look at the big-picture issues the ferry system is facing.

“We didn’t want to sound like prima donna whiners with parochial demands,” she said.