PORT TOWNSEND — Washington State Ferries will launch a pilot electronic ticketing system Thursday at the Port Townsend ferry terminal to replace frequent ticket user books with multiride convenience cards.
“There’s no turning back,” Susan Harris-Huether, State Ferries customer information officer, said Monday, introducing the ferry system’s pilot program dubbed Wave2Go.
The ferry system spokeswoman said the agency was now prepared to officially launch the experimental program after three weeks of technological delays.
Ferry employees and contractors have worked long hours to make sure the system functions.
Scanned into a computer
The multi-ride convenience card contains a bar code which is scanned each time it is used.
When the card is scanned by a computer, a trip is deducted until all trips are used, ferry officials said.
The multi-ride passenger commuter card can be shared among a family or group traveling together.
The multi-ride car and driver convenience card can only be used for one car per sailing.
Harris-Huether said two electronic passenger kiosks set up on the Port Townsend terminal and in the terminal on the Keystone side of the run will be launched later for foot passengers — once the vehicle card system tests out.
Single-ride full fare tickets can be purchased up to seven days in advance.
