Cut the ferry line, pay a fine. Pierce County to crack down at Anderson Island landing

The Pierce County Council voted this week to ticket people who cut in line for the Anderson Island ferry lines. Steilacoom might follow suit with a similar law at its ferry dock.

Anderson Island residents are tired of line cutters and “unruly” passengers waiting at the ferry dock to head to Steilacoom, said Dave Jacobson, vice president of the Anderson Island Citizen Advisory Board. Now, a $48 fine will be handed out to anyone seen cutting the queue.

Problems arose last July when a passenger threatened one of the volunteers working at the dock directing traffic and answering questions, Jacobson said.

“We’ve had a couple of instances of threats being made to the volunteers, and it was no longer safe for them to manage,” he said.

Since then, volunteers have left ferry passengers to patrol themselves, and line-cutting has become a prevalent issue. Waiting cars can total 150.

Pierce County Council Chairman Doug Richardson put forth a bill to cite those who cut the ferry lines. A Pierce County deputy will patrol the area.

“We’ve had to focus on people who say, ‘You can’t enforce it, so you have no authority to stop me driving down this lane,’” Richardson said.

The number of Pierce County ferry passengers has grown by 19 percent in the past five years, according to county statistics.

Steilacoom has drafted a mirror proposal to put before the Town Council on June 18.

As the ferry usage has jumped, unruliness at the Steilacoom ferry dock also has escalated, said Paul Loveless, town administrator. The town’s Police Department has responded on more than one occasion recently, Loveless said.

One citizen argued against the regulation at Tuesday’s County Council meeting.

“It’s just not necessary to do,” Joe Flarity told the board. “We should just expect people to do the right thing.”

The Pierce County law will be implemented at the end of the month.

This story was originally published June 7, 2019 at 5:56 PM.