Washington State Ferries

As in the City of Seattle, the route to the Washington State Ferries at Anacortes is well marked. There is a fee for parking, but in a way, this makers sense. The lot is monitored, and if the slot you parked in is not recorded as being occupied, you will get a notice on your vehicle, or the vehicle will get towed. Otherwise, you do not need to leave a paid stub in the vehicle. So, I can see the fee to cover the cost of monitoring. And $10 for 24 hours is really reasonable, especially, if like me, you took advantage of 10 our more hours of that time: it becomes less than $1 per hour. A bargain for monitored parking anywhere.

The ferry people know what they are doing: they do not always make a direct run from A to B, and they arrange the vehicles so that those getting off at intermittent ports are where they need to be. Once you get to San Juan or Lopez Islands (and this is probably true for the other islands along this route, at least) you do not need to pay a fee or even show a stub to get back to the mainland. I suspect it is presumed you paid your fee to get on the island, although you could have flown in and now want to ferry out.

At San Juan, if you want to go on to Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, and did not pay your fee in Anacortes, you can do that, however.

Southwest Airlines must have taken a tip from the Washington State Ferry, or other successful ferry operators: They dock, clean the ferry unload, and re-load in some 20-30 minutes. Granted, the numbers are smaller, and they are not handling luggage, although they are handling vehicles, including bicycles, kayaks on trailers, and RVs. It was a smooth operation to watch. The ferries offer food service, and , at the proper times, adult beverages (not at 8:30 AM). They have restrooms, information tract racks, indoor and outdoor seating. The seating is armchair, bench and bench with tables. They announced the Washington State Ferry system as one of the safest in the world. I believe it. Just as I observe with Southwest Airlines, the staff know their jobs, do it in a way that makes it seem effortless, take care of the passengers when needed, and in generally take care of business.