Brian Lagerberg, Director of Public Transportation for WSDOT, presented the Diamond Award for “Outstanding Program Support” to the Washington State Department of Transportation – Ferries Division for their years of providing time, financial incentives and encouraging our traveling public to rideshare.

Currently, there are 172 vanpools in the Ferry system program. 78 of the vanpools are traveling to or from King County. At the Fauntleroy Terminal in West Seattle on the 4:20 p.m. sailing, there are 19 vanpools lined up for travel, which is 22% of the ferry available space. For a $20 registration fee, vanpools get a special permit exempting the vanpool from paying for the vehicle. If there are four passengers in the vanpool, the driver is free also. Vanpools can sign up for a ferry sailing of their choice and if the van arrives ten minutes or more early, it gets preferential loading in advance of the sailing. This means, that no matter how long the queue is, the vanpool is assured of being on the boat to their destination.

For carpools of three or more that register with the Ferries, preferential loading is provided if arrival at the terminal is 10 minutes or more prior to the sailing. There are 67 carpools in this program with 26 that go to or from King County. Washington State Ferries works closely with all regional transit agencies to collaborate to better serve the commuting public.

*Some definitions: An "ETC" is the staff-level employee transportation coordinator responsible for the daily administration of the transportation program. "SOV" stands for single-occupant vehicle, and "CTR" for commute trip reduction.