PORT TOWNSEND — The launch of the state’s pilot electronic ferry ticket program has been delayed a third week on the Port Townsend-Keystone run, a Washington State Ferries spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Susan Harris said ferry system workers are still trying to set up auto and foot passenger ferry ticketing, facing technological difficulties.
The intent, she said, it to make it work correctly for customers before the system makes its debut.
“It’s all software configuration and getting to where it’s appropriate for the public,” Harris said.
The system will be tested until it works well, she added.
Equipment installed
Electronic ticket equipment was installed at the second Port Townsend tollbooth two weeks ago.
Last week, workers installed two foot ferry ticket units in the waiting room at the ferry terminal.
“As a (foot) passenger, you will not have to go to the tollbooth to get a ticket,” she said about the new system, comparing it to airline tickets that are purchased online and then verified at the ticket desk.
Similar electronic ticket systems are being installed on the Keystone, Whidbey Island, side of the Port Townsend run.
System’s first step
The installation is the first step in the new system, which this year will replace coupon ticket books, ferry officials said.
The first equipment in the system, which will allow ferry employees to swipe a ferry user’s card or read it with a bar-code gun, is being prepared.
Harris said the Port Townsend-Keystone route was chosen for its ease of initiating the system — riders can pay at both ends of the run, the run has low ridership this time of year and most riders are single-ticket purchasers.