Cheesy as it may sound, it’s true. Only you can make the Kingston passenger ferry effort a success.

Aqua Express, the private ferry that operated between Seattle and Kingston in 2005, failed because of ballooning gas prices, waffling on the part of the state government and aging equipment.

Mostly it failed because the commuters who said they’d show up in force never really did. And it was hurt by some short-sighted riders who were gaming the system — hitching a free ride to work on a state ferry in the morning and paying for a passenger ferry ride home in the evening.

Of course Port of Kingston staff knows all this. They have the luxury of a failed venture to learn from and they seem to have done their homework.

The “Spirit of Kingston” is a leaner, more efficient boat that the port owns free and clear, courtesy of a federal grant. Because the Spirit of Kingston is a smaller boat, the port will have fewer crew members to pay. It will charge a slightly higher fare to help cover operating costs.

The port is a public district and not a business so it can afford to tread water longer before turning a profit, and can be satisfied with just breaking even. It also has access to grants to help pay for operations.

Even with these advantages, the port’s endeavor will float or drown based on how many people actually climb aboard the boat. The port will be testing whether, in an era of Sounder trains and relatively cheap walk-on fares on the big white boats, there is still demand for a Misquito Fleet-style service.

If you want a foot ferry to Seattle, tell the port and show up in October. If you don’t, it will fail.