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WSF halts ticketing rollout, will reissue procurement; pilots pet policy, Wi‑Fi and traffic system trials
Summary
WSF paused a ticketing vendor pilot and will issue a new procurement; the agency also announced a permanent pet‑in‑cabin policy at specified areas, vessel and terminal Wi‑Fi pilots, and a traffic‑management trial at Edmonds–Kingston.
Washington State Ferries said it stopped a ticketing/reservation pilot with a contracted vendor after concluding the system was not ready for public testing and will release a new request for information or procurement opportunity in the coming weeks, a senior operations official said.
"I will take full ownership on WSF's behalf that we should have done more due diligence before we did that," John said, describing the decision to halt the contract and promising a public accounting of what was spent and a report on lessons learned. He said WSF expects to issue a fresh RFI early in the summer and will trial any new systems with affected communities first.
Pet policy: John said WSF will allow pets in the passenger cabin at the end of the boat opposite the galley, require large dogs to stay on the floor and permit small animals in carriers on a passenger’s lap. The agency will install pet stations and increase onboard signage; crews retain authority to address disruptive behavior and remove animals when necessary. "If it's a large dog, it must be on the floor. We cannot have pets on the seats," John said.
Wi‑Fi and pilots: John described a vessel pilot (identified in the record as 'Chimacam') equipped with onboard Wi‑Fi and a Bremerton‑terminal pilot; WSF will test performance, collect rider feedback and report results to the legislature by year end.
Automated traffic management and Lopez study: The agency reported a weekend trial of an automated traffic‑management (ATMS) system on Edmonds–Kingston that issues tally slips to manage queues and will run daily 8 a.m.–8 p.m. starting Monday; an enforcement officer will be present through the end of the year to handle vehicles without a tally. Nicole McIntosh said the legislature funded a study to examine adding reservations at Lopez Island and WSF is hiring a consultant to start the work later this year.
What’s next: WSF will publish lessons learned from the halted ticketing pilot, finalize RFI/procurement details and run pilots before wider rollouts, while continuing to solicit community feedback on reservation and traffic trials.
