(1) Upon the filing of an application, the commission shall give reasonable notice to the department, affected cities, counties, and public transportation benefit areas and any common carrier which might be adversely affected, of the time and place for hearing on such application. The commission may, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, issue the certificate as prayed for, or refuse to issue it, or issue it for the partial exercise only of the privilege sought, and may attach to the exercise of the rights granted by the certificate any terms and conditions as in its judgment the public convenience and necessity may require; but the commission may not grant a certificate to operate between districts or into any territory prohibited by RCW
47.60.120 or already served by an existing certificate holder, unless the existing certificate holder has failed or refused to furnish reasonable and adequate service, has failed to provide the service described in its certificate or tariffs after the time allowed to initiate service has elapsed, or has not objected to the issuance of the certificate as prayed for.
(2) Before issuing a certificate, the commission shall determine that the applicant has the financial resources to operate the proposed service for at least twelve months, based upon the submission by the applicant of a pro forma financial statement of operations. Issuance of a certificate must be determined upon, but not limited to, the following factors: Ridership and revenue forecasts; the cost of service for the proposed operation; an estimate of the cost of the assets to be used in providing the service; a statement of the total assets on hand of the applicant that will be expended on the proposed operation; and a statement of prior experience, if any, in such field by the applicant. The documentation required of the applicant under this section must comply with the provisions of chapter
5.50 RCW.
(3) In granting a certificate for passenger-only ferries and determining what conditions to place on the certificate, the commission shall consider and give substantial weight to the effect of its decisions on public agencies operating, or eligible to operate, passenger-only ferry service.
(4) Until July 1, 2007, the commission shall not accept or consider an application for passenger-only ferry service serving any county in the Puget Sound area with a population of over one million people. Applications for passenger-only ferry service serving any county in the Puget Sound area with a population of over one million pending before the commission as of May 9, 2005, must be held in abeyance and not be considered before July 1, 2007.