Medical preferential loading
Medical preferential loadings are given to passengers who find it detrimental to their health to wait in a ferry line.
Contact our information staff at 206.464.6400 or toll free at 1.888.808.7977 for a medical preferential form to be sent to your doctor/clinic/hospital. This will then be faxed to the terminal where you will be traveling. You need to request a customer copy from you doctor office to carry with you.
Engine Room access doors
It is important to the safety of both customers and employees that these access points remain unobstructed. Engine room personnel must have two ways of exiting the engine room, which is below deck. To park in these diagonally striped areas could endanger lives. Not only is this rule based on common sense, it's mandated by the Coast Guard. So if ferry crews tell you to stay back or move forward, please follow their instructions.
An example cited by Chief Engineer David Lindeman of the Wenatchee is a good one: "One of the more serious threats to passenger and vessel safety is a car deck vehicle fire. To fight such a fire, crews require access to foam nozzles, which are stored in the access ways to our engine-room control spaces. On numerous occasions, I have observed complete obstruction of the emergency spaces on either side of the engine-room access doors. If deck or engine-room crews needed to move the foam nozzle equipment, precious time would be lost in fighting a fire."
Tally System
Our tally system is activated at the Kingston Terminal during heavy traffic periods so that the ferry queue will not impede local traffic flow. The Washington State Patrol will hand out tally slips to each car queued on SR 104 at Lindvog Road NE counting each vehicle so that no other vehicles can cut in line. Once at the tollbooth, the customer surrenders the slip to the seller and buys their ticket. If a vehicle attempts to enter the terminal without a tally slip at times when the tally system is activated, the driver will be directed to go to the end of the tally queue. Generally, the tally system happens on late spring and summer Sundays or on holidays at the Kingston Terminal.
Motorcycle Loading Procedures
There are a couple of very good reasons to ride a motorcycle aboard a Washington State Ferry.
- The motorcycle & driver fare is much less than the car & driver fare.
- Loading procedures often allow first on, first off privileges if staged prior to the commencement of loading.
- Motorcyclists rarely face an overload situation on busy commuter runs, weekends & sunny summer days.
Although WSF encourages Motorcycles to by-pass waiting lines by using HOV or Local lanes in most cases, it is the responsibility of Motorcyclists to ensure they are not violating any applicable laws. Check the specific terminal page for more details on accessing each route.
Once onboard, please be sure that you don't park your motorcycle in the yellow striped walkways or block vehicle access.
Where do I load riding my Segway, a stand up bike?
A person riding a personal mobility device such as a Segway are loaded on our vehicle loading deck, just like bicycles.