Business Notes Telephones

Vicki Clayton was headed for Seattle aboard the Puget Sound ferry when she remembered that her children's school was closing early that day. Undaunted, she simply picked up the phone and arranged for a baby-sitter. Clayton, a Bainbridge Island homemaker, thus availed herself of one of the latest benefits of the information age: pay phones on public transportation.

The new service began last month when NewVector Communications of Bellevue, Wash., installed phones on five Seattle buses and four ferries as part of a three-month trial. For 50 cents a minute, chargeable to most major credit cards, passengers can make local calls. NewVector, a unit of U S West--one of seven holding companies created in the breakup of AT&T--hopes that travelers who enjoy talking on the go will next buy car phones.

Across the country, meanwhile, a firm called Railfone will install telephones on Amtrak's Metroliner express between Washington and New York City in January. Anticipated charge for all calls: $4.75 for the first three minutes and $1 a minute thereafter. Amtrak expects the busy executives who ride the train to turn the service into a moneymaker quickly.