‘Quick wins’ to fix the Fauntleroy ferry terminal
Apr 6, 2017, 6:54 AM
(File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
The ride across Puget Sound is beautiful, but one complaint from KIRO drivers comes up again and again: Why does it take so long get on the ferry at Fauntleroy?
Ferry riders know the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route as “The Triangle.” The route between West Seattle, the island, and the Kitsap Peninsula is getting a makeover, but fixing this unique route has been challenging.
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“We have a lot of constraints in this route,” said Brian Mannion with Washington State Ferries. “Like a dock with one slip so only one boat can come in and out; three different destinations and a lot of people trying to get the same way at rush hour. Out of Seattle in the afternoon gets really, really busy in the summer.”
Mannion said that’s why the Triangle Task Force was born. It’s a group made up of community members, ferry riders and experts. Their first task was to come up with “quick wins” and that’s why you’ll see another ticketing change at the Triangle Route this summer.
Fauntleroy ferry changes
“We’re trying to improve toll booth operations at the Faulteroy terminal,” Mannion said. “It’s a small dock. It can’t fit as many cars on the dock that as can fit on the boat, which means once we load everyone off that dock, the slowest point is around the toll booth. So we’re going to try a little bit of different staffing and see if that can bump that number up a little bit to get more cars through when we need it the most.”
In an effort to fix the traffic flow problem, WSF tried to change the ticketing process at the toll booth on the Triangle route last summer — it didn’t go well.
“Last summer was pretty rough,” Mannion said. “We tried a few things to fix it last summer and it didn’t work. The place where we ran into trouble was drivers didn’t know about the new ticketing process.”
Drivers will likely hear about the new ticketing process in May. And yes, I asked: There’s an app for planes, trains and automobiles, so why not the ferries?
“That’s not something that is not under the scope of quick wins,” Mannion said. “We’re looking at a bunch of different options for the longer term for ticketing across the system, but this is the system we have now and we have to work with it.”
