After spending another frustrating time in the Fauntleroy ferry line, I started thinking about my rides over the last 40-plus years. I was always amazed at how efficiently the process was run when Neal from the Seattle Police Department and dock workers Caroline and Bernie were all working together to get cars by the toll booth through a bypass lane without any accidents.

Those were the days when a simple blue ticket was handed to a person in a fraction of a second. Caroline and Neal would walk up the line on Fauntleroy and move cars with tickets by the booth. The ferry system did not need dock masters that sit in a private office and watch TV all day.

Given the huge bumbling machine the ferry system has turned into, I don’t believe they can fix themselves. The solution to the mess on the docks should be privatizing dock operations. I think that a private company that is reimbursed on the basis of proven efficiency would eliminate many dollars in unneeded administration and overhead and drastically improve boarding times and efficiency.

— Cliff Lindgren