Homeland Security grant allows WSF to install LCD screens on Bainbridge ferries

Ferry passengers can now take in short videos on emergency procedures while sipping their morning coffee.

New wide-screen, liquid crystal display monitors have been installed aboard the M/V Tacoma and M/V Wenatchee to educate riders about ferry safety precautions and security practices. Other screens have been installed at Colman Dock in Seattle and the Anacortes ferry terminal.

While Washington State Ferries has been testing the screens for over a month, monitors went into full service as part of a three-month pilot project Thursday morning.

If successful, the monitors, which were paid for by a Department of Homeland Security grant, could become a permanent fixture on some WSF vessels.

Lakewood-based Rainier Media produced several of the short videos for the new program. The screens will also provide real-time messaging using Internet-based media to present information such as security updates, current road and traffic conditions, weather forecasts, terrorism alerts, departure or arrival delays and sailing schedules, according to WSF.