PORT TOWNSEND — A reservation system will begin next month for travelers on the Steilacoom II on the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry route, state ferries spokeswoman Hadley Greene said Wednesday.
The system, in effect for the summer ferry schedule, will allow drivers to reserve up to 25 vehicle spots on the Steilacoom II up to 30 days in advance, leaving the other 25 spots for reservations on the day of sailing or for travelers who show up without a reservation, Greene said.
The starting date for taking RSVPs wasn’t announced, but it will start in May, Greene said.
The Steilacoom II will be the only car-passenger ferry on the route this summer.
In the past, the Port Townsend-Keystone route, which links state Highway 20 between the Olympic Penin-sula and Whidbey Island, has been served by two larger ferries.
However, those two 80-year-old vessels were among four Steel Electric-class ferries permanently mothballed last November because of several hull corrosion on three of them.
The system will be used because the route will use a solo ferry that carries nine fewer cars and about half as many passengers as two Steel Electrics.
Reservations for the Steilacoom II will be available by calling 888-808-7977 toll-free or by going to www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.
Crossing time on the route is 35 minutes and there are 10 sailings each day in both directions.
The new system is “geared to keep people from waiting in their vehicles or having to line up on the side of the road” to catch a boat, Greene said.
The ferry system also takes reservations on its interna-tional route, between Ana-cortes and Sidney, British Columbia.
Greene said the ferry system will advertise today for a new round of bids or con-struction of new boats to work the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
The initial bidding brought only one bid that was $9 million higher than Washington State Ferries engineers predicted.
The system plans to open a new set of bids on May 8, Greene said.
