9 Things Washington Ferry Workers Notice About Drivers Every Day
Washington State Ferries now makes every Kingston-bound driver stop at a ticket kiosk on State Route 104 (SR 104), about a mile up the highway from the tollbooth.
Washington’s Department of Transportation (WSDOT) built it.
That kiosk is only one stop on the way to the boat. Deckhands, toll takers, and loading crews across the ferry system’s eight routes watch the same handful of driver habits repeat, sailing after sailing.
These are the things Washington ferry workers notice about drivers every day.
1. Missing Parking Brake
Washington State Ferries asks every driver to do one thing before leaving the vehicle deck: Set the parking brake.
Not everyone remembers.
The deck shifts with the boat’s wake and the weight of dozens of vehicles loading in behind you.
A car left in gear without its brake set can creep forward into the bumper ahead of it.
Loading crews catch it, tapping a window or waving a driver back before the ramp comes up.
Nobody wants a rolling car.
2. Alarm Nobody Silences
Car alarms are the other thing Washington State Ferries wants switched off before a driver walks away from the vehicle deck.
Ferries roll.
A gust off Puget Sound or the wake from a passing tug is enough to trip a motion sensor.
It never fixes itself, not until someone comes back down to shut it off.
Once an alarm starts wailing on a closed vehicle deck, there’s nowhere for the sound to go.
Deckhands are stuck with it, whether that’s a half-hour hop to Bainbridge Island or the longer haul out to the San Juan Islands.
3. Jumping the Line
A Washington State Ferries worker who loads cars for a living told NPR that someone tries to cut the line more than once on a typical shift.
Regulars notice, too.
It often happens at exit-heavy terminals, where a missed turn tempts a driver to angle back in rather than lose a place in line.
Washington has a law about it.
State code makes it a traffic infraction to move ahead of another vehicle in a ferry line without authorization from a ferry employee.
Washington State Ferries tells its workers not to pull a cutter out of line unless a police officer is right there with them.
The citation still ran $145 when NPR checked the price in 2024.
4. Missing the Check-In Window
Washington State Ferries’ terminal attendants turn away a reservation holder almost every sailing on two routes: Anacortes to the San Juan Islands, and Port Townsend to Coupeville.
Busy isn’t the reason.
WSDOT’s route data puts both among the system’s least-trafficked runs, with the fewest sailings and the longest wait for a next boat.
The system only works if a driver shows up inside the check-in window.
A driver who checks in late loses the reserved spot, the same risk every non-reservation driver already takes.
Terminal attendants have to deliver that news themselves.
The Reservation Cutoff, by Route
Washington State Ferries sets that check-in cutoff differently depending on the route.
On the Port Townsend/Coupeville run, a reservation holder needs to check in 30 to 45 minutes before the sailing.
On Anacortes to the San Juan Islands, the window stretches to 45 to 60 minutes because loading and unloading at each island takes longer to sort out.
Arrive inside that window and the spot holds.
Arrive after it, and the spot is gone.
5. SR 104 Ticket Kiosk
Washington State Ferries backs up its no-cutting rule at Kingston with a ticket kiosk on SR 104, about a mile up the highway from the tollbooth.
A flashing sign near Barber Cutoff Road tells drivers where to pull in and print a ticket before rejoining the line.
A green light at the kiosk, tied to how much room is open near the tollbooth, tells each driver when to pull forward.
No ticket, no ride.
Toll booth staff turn away any driver who skipped the kiosk and send them back up the highway for one.
WSDOT’s Kurt Workman says the point is keeping that line of cars out of Kingston’s small downtown core while people wait.
Motorcycles, mobility-pass holders, and drivers with a medical pass skip the kiosk altogether.
The system runs daily from late May through mid-October, plus weekends and holiday weeks year-round.
Edmonds-Kingston isn’t Washington State Ferries’ single busiest route for vehicles.
WSDOT route data show Mukilteo-Clinton carries more, but Edmonds-Kingston still ranks second, at nearly 1.8 million vehicles in the most recent full year on record.
Psst! How up to speed are you on the other rules Washington ferry riders live by? Run through this checklist and see where you land.
6. Carpools Without the Tickets
Carpools and vanpools get a dedicated loading lane at Washington State Ferries terminals, and vanpools skip the vehicle fare, paying only for the riders.
The catch is proof.
A driver needs at least two extra passenger tickets ready at the booth, proof of the three riders the lane requires.
Drivers still have to pull into the rideshare holding area ten minutes before the sailing.
One ticket short, and it’s the regular line.
7. Squeezing Into the Bike Lane
Marked lanes route cyclists around the vehicle line at many Washington State Ferries terminals, not through it.
Seattle’s terminal has a separate bike tollbooth, set apart from the vehicle booths.
Mukilteo sends riders down a marked green lane to a staging area near the terminal’s maintenance building.
Cars don’t belong there.
A car that drifts into that lane while waiting to inch forward blocks the one path Washington State Ferries tells cyclists to use around the traffic.
A booth attendant waves the driver back before a cyclist has to swerve around a bumper to get by.
8. Slow Back to the Car
Once a Washington State Ferries boat gets underway, many drivers leave their vehicles behind, heading up to the passenger decks for coffee or a seat by the window.
Getting everyone back is the hard part.
Crew call drivers back over the loudspeaker as the boat closes in on the dock.
Washington State Ferries tells every vehicle passenger to return to their car the moment they hear it.
Some passengers take their time.
A driver still finishing a phone call or hunting for a jacket upstairs holds up the whole line.
Every vehicle behind that one car has nowhere to go until it’s back in place.
9. Trying to Leave Mid-Loading
Leaving the boat isn’t simple once Washington State Ferries has started loading vehicles: The captain has to sign off first.
That catches people off guard.
A driver who forgot a bag in the terminal, or wants to run back for one more coffee, can’t just walk down the car ramp. Not once the first vehicles have started rolling aboard.
Once loading starts, you’re staying put.
Deckhands field the request, and the answer doesn’t change: Find a seat, and wait for the dock.
The rule exists for a plain reason: A pedestrian walking against rolling traffic is exactly the kind of hazard a captain won’t sign off on.
So the driver who forgot something stands at the rail instead, watching the car disappear onto the vehicle deck without them until the next stop.
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