After two and a half weeks, Washington State Ferries says it’s giving up on new “procedures” that were intended to speed up loading at the Fauntleroy dock, but caused new problems instead. This afternoon’s announcement:
On Monday, May 23, WSF instituted new ticketing procedures at the Fauntleroy ferry terminal in order to address several problems identified by the passengers, ferry advisory committee members, and WSF. Over the past three weeks, we have learned from passenger feedback and direct observation that the new procedures were not working. Based on this experience, we are suspending the change and returning to the ticketing procedures that were previously in place starting on Friday, June 10.
Passengers with pre-purchased tickets will be waved through the tollbooth, and their tickets will be scanned on the dock. Passengers who do not have tickets must stop to buy them at the tollbooth. We recognize that this solution does not address the underlying difficulties at the Fauntleroy Terminal, including limited vehicle capacity, challenges with consistent fare recovery, and an outdated schedule designed for smaller vessels and lower traffic volume. These factors create conflict between maintaining the schedule and filling the boats.
Going forward, we will reach out to and communicate with stakeholders as we explore options to improve service within the constraints of our system. Thank you to all of our customers for your patience. We heard you, and we apologize for the disruption and inconvenience this change has caused.
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