PORT TOWNSEND –Washington State Ferries officials are floating a new electronic ticket system for the first time on the Port Townsend-Keystone run.
The Port Townsend-Keystone system should be set to sail on or before Jan. 12, ferry officials said.
It is the first step in the new system, which this year will replace coupon ticket books.
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, was being installed Tuesday.
The equipment will be tested today and Thursday at the second tollbooth at the Port Townsend terminal.
At the same time, equipment is being installed and tested at the Keystone ferry terminal on Whidbey Island.
Automated card-purchasing machines are planned to be installed next week inside the Port Townsend and Keystone terminal buildings.
“It’s going to be this next week sometime,” Susan Harris, State Ferries public information manager, said Tuesday of the system’s launch schedule.
“They’re not going to make the call until Friday.”