Kingston Ferry's New Ticket System: Summer Results Are In
Washington State Ferries installed an automated ticket kiosk about a mile west of the Kingston Terminal earlier this year. Now that summer is over, the results are in.
Regular riders adapted well, and the system accomplished its main goals: cutting down on traffic idling in downtown Kingston and reducing line cutting. But infrequent riders kept getting caught off guard, showing up at the toll booth without a ticket and getting turned away.
One unexpected problem? GPS apps like Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps were routing drivers around the kiosk line entirely, sending them straight to the terminal without a ticket. The state has been working with those companies to fix the issue. Google and Waze are making progress. Apple is still a work in progress.
