KINGSTON — A new e-ticketing program, Wave2Go, is washing in with not only new possibilities, but North End concerns as Washington State Ferries prepares to turn The Little City by the Sea into the next hi-tech town Feb. 20.

Despite some local grumbling, WSF officials are doing their best to ease residents into the new age of cards, kiosks and barcodes when using the ferry system.

“There have been positive and negative reactions,” said WSF customer information manager Susan Harris-Huether. “Nobody likes change. That’s a given. People like the ticket books, they can share them easily, with a spouse or whomever, if needed.”

State officials feel it’s time to try something new, and the cards are just the ticket – or e-ticket as the case may be. They’ve proven successful at WSF terminals in Anacortes, Port Townsend and Mukilteo, Harris-Huether said.

“We thought it would be late spring before it came to Kingston,” said Kingston Ferry Advisory Committee member Walt Elliott. “It must have gone smoothly at Mukilteo. This doesn’t change the fare price, just how the fare is purchased.”

Turnstiles have been installed on the Edmonds’ side of the run in preparation for the change, and other modifications will soon make their way to Kingston, Harris-Huether said. After the transition is made, two or three months down the road, a kiosk will be installed at the Kingston terminal, and a drive-through tollbooth will replace one of the employee-run booths.

Even so, WSF employees won’t be losing their jobs to the machine, she reassured.

Tickets from the age-old ferry ticket books will still be accepted until their expiration date, Harris-Huether said.

“The last chance to buy ticket books will be Feb. 19,” she said. “Residents will have the chance to slowly get used to the new cards.”

That could take some doing.

Olympic Printer Resources Inc. co-owner and Port of Kingston Commissioner Pete DeBoer isn’t alone in his concern that the new cards will be more expensive for business owners with multiple vehicles traveling to the other side.

“Before, we could just buy one book and take out tickets for each driver,” he said. “Now we have to buy two cards. Now all of the sudden we have to put out more money.”

Harris-Huether said business owners in such a situation can purchase one account with multiple cards which will work the same way. Each driver will have one, and can swipe them as needed.

“They never make it easier, only harder and more expensive,” DeBoer said. “On this one thing, I’d like to stay old-fashioned.”