{"id":7362,"date":"2015-01-21T10:15:47","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T15:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartsignblog.com\/blog\/?p=7362"},"modified":"2026-06-12T08:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:52:56","slug":"free-coffee-program-new-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington’s ‘Free Coffee Program’ needs new signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Free coffee is available at 37 state-run rest stops in Washington state.<\/p>\n

Remember this now\u00a0because the signs that advertise the offering\u00a0have disappeared. The Department of Transportation hasn’t replaced a worn out or damaged sign advertising free coffee since 2012. The problem: Volunteers were charged with manually flipping many of the signs to indicate whether the service was open or closed. Walking or driving up to the signs, they weren’t always staying safe along the road.<\/p>\n

\"free

Washington offers motorists free coffee at rest stops. From Greg Dunlap<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Only one stop had electronic signs that could be operated from a kiosk. But at a cost of $6,000 each, when they broke this summer, they went out for good.<\/p>\n

The loss of the signs might not sound like such a big deal. So what if people don\u2019t know about the free coffee? Isn’t creating and posting signs advertising a free service a perfect (and ironic) example of frivolous spending of taxpayer dollars anyway?<\/p>\n

Perhaps in some cases. But this isn’t one of them.<\/p>\n

For one thing, the complimentary beverage isn’t a mere friendly gesture by the state. The Free Coffee Program<\/a> serves a higher purpose by keeping drivers awake and alert not only through the caffeine boost, but also by encouraging them to stop for a break at rest areas.<\/p>\n

For another, the coffee service is run by nonprofit groups that sign up in advance for the privilege. While the beverage is free, the groups accept donations\u2014and they’ve been losing money with the drop-off in customers. It\u2019s difficult to account for exactly how much, since the donations aren’t reported. But according to one recent article<\/a>, \u201cThe drop in coffee drinkers can add up to hundreds of dollars less in donations for churches, fraternal organizations, youth clubs, veteran groups and other nonprofits.\u201d Losing money means less incentive for these nonprofits to sign up.<\/p>\n

So it seems signage really is a big deal, even in cases where it might not seem so significant. \u00a0At least one Washington state senator takes that perspective. According to this article, Sen. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, filed legislation last week that would have the Department of Transportation restore all of the free coffee signs by August 1.<\/p>\n

All that\u2019s left to bring the state\u2019s Free Coffee Program back to its former glory is convincing stakeholders to upgrade the manual signs to the more costly electronic versions\u2014a safety measure for the program\u2019s volunteers that shouldn’t be dismissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Free coffee is available at 37 state-run rest stops in Washington state. Remember this now\u00a0because the signs that advertise the offering\u00a0have disappeared. The Department of Transportation hasn’t replaced a worn out or damaged sign advertising free coffee since 2012. The problem: Volunteers were charged with manually flipping many of the signs to indicate whether the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":7365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"wpmdr_menu":0,"wpmdr_menu_extended":{"individualPostRemove":1,"individualPostRemoveDate":1,"individualPostRemoveAuthor":1,"individualPostYoastRemovePublished":1,"individualPostYoastRemoveModified":1},"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[474,475,473],"class_list":["post-7362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-free-coffee","tag-highway-safety","tag-washington"],"yoast_head":"\nWashington's 'Free Coffee Program' needs new signs | SmartSign Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington's Free Coffee Program is suffering due to a lack of clear signage.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington's 'Free Coffee Program' needs new signs | SmartSign Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington's Free Coffee Program is suffering due to a lack of clear signage.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SmartSign Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/SmartSign\/220245064667579\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-21T15:15:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T12:52:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Heather Schwartz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmartSign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SmartSign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Heather Schwartz\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/560cf4648c4dc0fc432250f7e023908f\"},\"headline\":\"Washington’s ‘Free Coffee Program’ needs new signs\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-21T15:15:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-12T12:52:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":424,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"free coffee\",\"highway safety\",\"washington\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Washington's 'Free Coffee Program' needs new signs | SmartSign Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-21T15:15:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-12T12:52:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Washington's Free Coffee Program is suffering due to a lack of clear signage.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Washington offers motorists free coffee at rest stops. From Greg Dunlap.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Washington’s ‘Free Coffee Program’ needs new signs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SmartSign Blog\",\"description\":\"Articles and resources on safety, security, and signs\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SmartSign\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/smartsign-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/smartsign-logo.png\",\"width\":188,\"height\":55,\"caption\":\"SmartSign\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pages\\\/SmartSign\\\/220245064667579\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/SmartSign\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.smartsign.com/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/560cf4648c4dc0fc432250f7e023908f\",\"name\":\"Heather Schwartz\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Washington's 'Free Coffee Program' needs new signs | SmartSign Blog","description":"Washington's Free Coffee Program is suffering due to a lack of clear signage.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Washington's 'Free Coffee Program' needs new signs | SmartSign Blog","og_description":"Washington's Free Coffee Program is suffering due to a lack of clear signage.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/","og_site_name":"SmartSign Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/SmartSign\/220245064667579","article_published_time":"2015-01-21T15:15:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-12T12:52:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Heather Schwartz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SmartSign","twitter_site":"@SmartSign","twitter_misc":{"Written by":false,"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/"},"author":{"name":"Heather Schwartz","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/560cf4648c4dc0fc432250f7e023908f"},"headline":"Washington’s ‘Free Coffee Program’ needs new signs","datePublished":"2015-01-21T15:15:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-12T12:52:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/"},"wordCount":424,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg","keywords":["free coffee","highway safety","washington"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/","name":"Washington's 'Free Coffee Program' needs new signs | SmartSign Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-21T15:15:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-12T12:52:56+00:00","description":"Washington's Free Coffee Program is suffering due to a lack of clear signage.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1062169875_177577ddb6_z.jpg","width":640,"height":480,"caption":"Washington offers motorists free coffee at rest stops. From Greg Dunlap."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/free-coffee-program-new-signs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Washington’s ‘Free Coffee Program’ needs new signs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/","name":"SmartSign Blog","description":"Articles and resources on safety, security, and signs","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#organization","name":"SmartSign","url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smartsign-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smartsign-logo.png","width":188,"height":55,"caption":"SmartSign"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/SmartSign\/220245064667579","https:\/\/x.com\/SmartSign"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/560cf4648c4dc0fc432250f7e023908f","name":"Heather Schwartz"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7362"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12908,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7362\/revisions\/12908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smartsign.com/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}