The in basket: Dan Wages and Michael Johnson are upset about two strategies use by shipyard workers in Bremerton to get to work in the morning. We’ll discuss Dan’s first and Michael’s in the next Road Warrior.

Dan says, “Every weekday morning at about 7 a.m. I see several bicyclists coming off of the Seattle ferry ride against traffic westbound on First Street heading towards the PSNS gate.

“This looks very dangerous,” he said, “in that cars coming down Pacific, which turns into First Street, do not expect two-way traffic on a one way street. I witnessed one accident a few months ago where a bicyclist struck a vehicle turning into the Kitsap Credit Union building’s underground parking and hear drivers of cars yelling at the bicyclists reminding them that they are on a one-way street going the wrong direction.”

He wonders if what the bicyclists are doing is legal and thinks the city of Bremerton is risking a “huge liability” if one of the bikes is hit by a car.

“There is no signage telling cars to watch for traffic going against the flow on this one-way street,” he said. “Bremerton police do not issue tickets for what appears to be an illegal action.

About a dozen bicyclists do this each day, he said.

The out basket: Lt. Pete Fisher of the Bremerton police traffic division didn’t waste many words on this, saying, that bicyclists must follow the rules of the road per RCW 46.61.755, which says they must comply with all laws applied to automobiles, except that they can ride on the shoulder or sidewalk.

“Our position is that bicyclists must comply with all pertinent laws or they subject themselves to potential enforcement action,” he said.

He didn’t address whether they have written any tickets for this, but it’s clear that a bicyclist in the roadway going the wrong way is violating the law. It sounds like they can get way with it on the sidewalk if they don’t run down any pedestrians.

The in basket: There I was, in line to board a ferry, watching a State Patrol officer lead his hyper-enthusiastic young black lab past the waiting cars, seeking the odor of explosives, when the strangest through occurred to me.

I never feel very poised when picking up the leavings of my own dog, a little Schipperke. Given how instrumental command presence and an aura of authority are to police officers, what could be more detrimental to that than pausing in their duties to pick up a pile of German shepherd poop.

I asked the State Patrol and Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office what advice or directives their K-9 officers are given regarding that least adorable element of dog ownership.

The out basket: Deputy Scott Wilson of the sheriff’s office weighed in first.

“Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office policy for our K-9 handlers,” Scott said, “mirrors that of general rules of doggy etiquette for the general public: the handlers pick-up after their K-9 charges.

“The exception is when a K-9 is on an active track,” he added. “From time to time the excitement of a track may cause a K-9 to urinate or defecate. The handlers have to ignore it and focus on the mission at hand:  officer safety and tracking the suspect. In these cases the deposit is left where it is, although more often than not the item usually is deposited in an inconspicuous location.”

Next in was Sgt. Bill Ashcraft, the K9 supervisor for the WSP Explosive Detection K9 Detachment that covers the Olympic Peninsula, who said, “‘Service with Humility’ has long been the motto of the WSP and it covers just about everything we do, including K9 poop detail.

“This is not the ‘glory’ part of working a police dog but all K9 handlers take pride in the fact if you see dog doodoo it’s not from a police K9. We all carry scoop bag in our pockets.

“Before we work the K9s we try to make sure they have taken care of any ‘business’ that might affect their performance of duties, i.e. searching” Bill said .”These are extremely well-trained dogs and basically will do their business on command.”

Then he kicked in a little info on his team.

“The primary responsibility of the explosive detection K9’s is for the security of the ferry system but we do respond to bomb threats, evidence searches and security sweeps for large events and VIP visits.

“We have 35 explosive detection K9s in the state and 14 narcotic detection dogs that are spread throughout the eight districts in the state. The WSP has one the largest K9 programs in the country outside of the federal government.”

The in basket:  I noticed a sign I’d never spotted before on the railing at the Southworth ferry terminal while waiting for the ferry one recent Sunday.

“No idle zone,” it said. “Waiting? Turn off engine.”

Idling one’s car unnecessarily is a known pollution cause, so the reason for the sign wasn’t hard to imagine. But I wondered if I’d simply overlooked it before, whether Southworth was the only terminal displaying it and whether disobeying it could incur a fine.

The out basket: Marta Coursey of the ferry system says, “The ‘No Idle Zone’ signs were installed within the last year system-wide (at every terminal) at the specific request of Assistant Secretary David Moseley.

“We have received a number of customer and community comments about the issues around idling cars for long periods of time, including the discomfort of our customers and the related air pollution in the surrounding communities.

“Mr. Moseley charged our terminal department with posting the signs in order to encourage our customers to stop idling their cars unnecessarily. They are advisory signs and we do not enforce the policy.”

The in basket: Marty Miller e-mailed me a copy of Washington State Ferries’ map at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/cameras/pop_cam_map.cfm, showing where it has cameras producing images of the holding areas at its terminals, allowing people to get some idea how many vehicles are waiting to board. He noted that Bremerton doesn’t have one and asked when it will get one.

The out basket: It does have one, says Susan Harris-Heather of the WSF public affairs office. You can see the images from all the terminals online at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/cameras/  and Bremerton is included.

She said she’ll notify the system’s Web techs of the omission from the Web site Marty checked and get a camera icon for Bremerton added to it.

The out basket: Cliff Durant wrote on Aug. 12 to say, “I was at the parts house in Kingston this evening. When I attempted to leave, the ferry traffic was backed up through town and as far as I could see out of town.

“The big problem was that no one would use the ferry holding lane,” Cliff said, “therefore stopping all traffic into town. I waited at least 20 minutes when I finally persuaded a driver to back up enough so I could get into the two-way left-turn lane and get where I wanted to go. There were times when cars were trying to go both ways in the two-way left-turn lane.

“Since the use of tally slips, people quit using the holding lane in town,” he said, “and when it backs up out of town they don’t use it there either. I called (9-1-1) and reported it and was told that is just the way it is when the ferry traffic backs up. I said someone needs to direct the traffic into the holding lane and was told there wasn’t anyone available.

“This happens quite often,” he said, “and doesn’t need to if the ferry (traffic) would just use the holding lane. Maybe signs advising the use of the holding lane would help.”

The out basket: The State Patrol manages traffic around the ferry terminals, so I asked its local spokeswoman, Trooper Krista Hedstrom about this.

“This does occur from time to time when the boat off-loads and the traffic lights stop traffic in both directions,” she said. “That will cause some gridlock. During the evening rush hour (during the summer only) there can be a 5-10 minute back-up, which is self-correcting when the boat loads.

“The problem is there is a mixture of commuters and leisure travelers that have absolutely no clue what to do regardless of our direction,” she said. “WSP does routinely direct traffic when it causes a back-up, however this issue typically corrects itself once the boat loads.  It usually takes more time directing everyone onto the shoulder than just allowing the traffic jam to self-correct itself.”

The in basket: I don’t use the state ferries much, but in recent trips to Seattle on the Southworth run, I noticed that the once-awkward welcome-aboard speeches, which include safety instructions, have been turned over to tape recordings done by Seattle radio personalities. Crew members used to do them and they frequently weren’t confidence inspiring. It’s an improvement.

When we arrived in Vashon, there was another recorded message, but the speaker didn’t identify himself, and the message began, “You are arriving at your destination.” Return to your cars and make sure you have all your belongings, he instructed.

I knew that I wasn’t at my destination, of course, but it seemed like a stranger to the ferries, going to Fauntleroy, would hurry to his car and fret about still being aboard when the boat left. Shouldn’t the recorded announcement specify which destination you are arriving at when there’s more than one, I asked myself.

The out basket: Then I asked Susan Harris-Heather, long time spokesman for the ferry system. She said she’d never had a complaint from any ferry system newbies who were misled and discomfited by any confusion about where they were, caused by the recorded messages. 

Putting different messages aboard the boats on the tri-corner Southworth run, as in the multi-terminal San Juan Island run, would be difficult because the boats move around so much from route to route that there probably would be more confusion, not less, she said.

The in basket: Bob Metcalf said he’d had contrasting experiences when trying to catch the ferry in Bremerton and Bainbridge.

In both places he was in the left lane of the approach when a sign told him he had to be in the right lane to board the ferry. He had no problem getting over in Bremerton, but when he merged right on Bainbridge, a woman ferry patron honked at him. 

When they were both through the toll booths and stopped, she got out of her car and walked over to his, scolding him and saying that had an officer seen what he did, he and the person who let him into the line could be cited for violating the state law enacted a couple of years ago to discourage cutting into the long lines at ferry terminals, like those at Bainbridge and Kingston.

Bob said the line wasn’t long on that day on Bainbridge, though. He guessed there were only three cars behind the woman he merged in front of. 

The out basket: The woman was half-right, says Trooper Krista Hedstrom of the state patrol here. 

The driver of a car heading for a ferry who cuts into the line of waiting cars is subject to a $124 fine, regardless of the number he or she may have passed before moving right. 

“They will also be (told) to go to the back of the line of cars waiting for the ferry,” she said. But the violation must have been seen by the citing officer, and would not become a part of the motorist’s driving record.

Susan Harris-Heather of the ferry system said a driver who cuts into line can wind up paying a price in inconvenience even if an officer doesn’t see it and issue a  citation.

The WSF ticket sellers are empowered to order a driver to the back of the line (without a citation) if two other drivers from the line-up say the first driver cut in back in the queue, she said.

“The driver who allowed the vehicle to merge in would not be cited for anything,” Krista said. 

And those with preferential loading (vanpools, buses, bicyclists, motorcyclists) can bypass the line. Those with disabled plates or placards usually can’t, Krista said.

“Typically, a driver with a disabled placard would have to wait in line like everyone else.  There are exceptions, however, such as a legitimate doctor’s note explaining the medical emergency or a physician-approved medical waiver.”