How’s
it going with the plan to eliminate North Carolina’s free state ferries by Jan.
1, 2027?
The
General Assembly instructed the Ferry Division of the North Carolina
Transportation Department (NCDOT) to start charging tolls by the first of the new year to all
people who use the four “commuter ferry routes” that are currently free.
The
affected ferry runs are: Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach, Aurora-Bayview,
Currituck-Knotts Island and Hatteras-Ocracoke. New toll rates are yet to be
determined.
State
ferry division personnel conducted a series of “listening sessions” in early September.
Five sessions were held to solicit comments from citizens who live in
communities near the ferry terminals and those who routinely use the ferry
service.
The purpose was to get their input about how much they’d be willing to
“pay to play.”
Holly
Jackson of the Washington (N.C.) Daily News, who covered the
gathering held in Washington, encountered some frustrated Aurora-Bayview ferry
riders.
Jackson
reported that 92% of the ridership on the Aurora-Bayview ferry is composed of
permanent residents, most of whom are employees commuting to the Nutrien
phosphate facility in Aurora (formerly PotashCorp).
The
decision by the state legislature in July to charge ferry tolls “was like a
punch in the gut,” said John Richards of Pinetown in northern Beaufort County.
He said he works for Nutrien in Aurora and commutes by way of the Aurora-Bayview
ferry.
It’s
a 30-minute crossing of the Pamlico River, on the “extension” of N.C. Route
306. Richards said he could “bypass” the ferry by driving around his elbow, but
that would add another 40 minutes to his travel time each way.
Richards
said that the ferry is one of the main primary reasons why he and several
colleagues who live on the north side of the Pamlico River continue to work at
Nutrien. “I would never think of going to work over there if I had to drive
around every day,” he said.
State
Sen. Bob Brinson of New Bern represents Beaufort, Craven and Lenoir counties. Two
of the ferry routes are in his district (Aurora-Bayview and Cherry
Branch-Minnesott Beach). He said NCDOT intends to pool revenue generated by the
ferry tolls into a fund that will be used to replace aging vessels in the
fleet.
“There’s
concern, at least from me,” Sen. Brinston told the Daily News, “that that’s not
really the way replacing roads works. So why should that work for the ferries?”
State
Rep. Keith Kidwell of Chocowinity, whose district includes Beaufort, Dare, Hyde
and Pamlico counties, said: “By and large, the citizens of eastern North
Carolina have made it clear for nearly 30 years that they do not support ferry
tolls. Ferries are part of North Carolina’s highway system and should not be
tolled.”
“A
lobbyist for the tolls sat in my office in Raleigh and explained to me that the
ferry system is grossly mismanaged. My question to him was: ‘So when the
government mismanages something, the answer is to tax the citizens to make up
for government mistakes?’”
Writing
as a guest columnist for TownDock.net in Oriental, Greg Piner emphasized that
N.C. Route 306, is a major thoroughfare that runs north-south through the
center of Pamlico County and also includes the Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach ferry.
N.C. Route 306 continues on to connect with N.C. Route 101 in Craven County.
A
retired civilian chemist, Piner rode the Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach ferry
for more than 30 years, going back and forth from his home in Oriental to work
at Marines Corps Fleet Readiness Center East in Havelock.
“The
State of North Carolina has some very efficient ways to raise revenue,” Piner
said. “Tolling ferries is not one of them.”
He
offers “a 72-cent solution.”
“All
of the revenue from the tolls will go to the Ferry Capital Special Fund, solely
to help fund the purchase of new ferries,” Piner said. “I have heard that the
goal is to raise $5 million of gross revenue each year. Five million.”
“Collecting
tolls is labor intensive and has a huge overhead. A reasonable estimate is that
for every dollar you spend on a ferry toll, 50 cents goes to the cost of taking
your money. That’s not just true for North Carolina, it’s that way all across
the country,” Piner wrote.
“The
entire North Carolina Ferry System transports around 1 million vehicles each
year. Currently, the three ferry routes in North Carolina that are tolled
generate about $2 million of gross revenue each year. The overhead to generate
that revenue is about $1 million – half of the revenue generated.”
“The
four remaining ferry routes will require millions of dollars to provide the
infrastructure necessary to begin tolling vehicles,” Piner continued.
“Tolling
ferries is a very, very bad way to raise revenue.”
“You
might not like to pay it,” Piner said, “but the gas tax is efficient. For every
dollar you pay in gasoline tax (the average driver pays around $350 a year), 95
cents goes straight to NCDOT to do the things they do.”
“One
of the things they do is fund the N.C. Ferry Division. On the Neuse and Pamlico
Rivers, the ferry routes are our highways. We take them to our jobs, to school,
to business appointments, doctors visits, to visit family, to run errands. Now
those ferry routes – our highways – are about to become toll roads.”
“Ferries
are part of the highway system,” Piner argued. “For example, the Cherry
Branch-Minnesott Beach Ferry is a continuation of N.C. Highway 306.”
“The
gasoline tax provides NCDOT about $2.4 billion each year. The current gasoline
tax is 41 cents per gallon. There are roughly 7 million people all over the
state just pumping away. Every time a gallon of gas goes into their tanks, 41
cents goes to the State gas tax fund.”
“When
you get all those people pumping all that gas you can generate a lot of revenue.
How much revenue? One cent of gas tax generates $53 million per year,” Piner
said.
“What
if someone told you that if the State of North Carolina raised your gasoline
tax from an average of $350.00 each year to $350.72 each year, then $5 million
of revenue could be put in the North Carolina Ferry System Fund every year, and
ferry tolls could be completely eliminated on all the ferries in North
Carolina?”
“That
would allow the Ferry System to focus on what they are trained to do: safely
transport as many vehicles as possible every day across the rivers and sounds
of North Carolina.”
“That
is what generates real revenue, revenue for small businesses, restaurants,
hotels and the thousands of local citizens that take a ferry to go to work,”
Piner added.
“A
simple one-tenth of a cent gas tax will generate far more revenue than a ferry
toll ever could.”
9 N.C. coastal counties
ask for ‘ferry tolls relief’
Nine
coastal North Carolina counties are seeking relief from the North Carolina
Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to waive state ferry tolls on locally
registered vehicles. The new tolls are scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1,
2027.
A
joint resolution in opposition to the tolls was approved in early September by
the county governing boards in Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven,
Currituck, Dare, Hyde, New Hanover and Pamlico counties.
The
resolution maintains that “ferries serve as the primary, and in some cases
exclusive, highways and bridges for the residents, commuters and emergency
services of eastern North Carolina.”
Residents
of the nine counties “rely on these state-maintained marine corridors daily to
access employment, medical care, education and essential goods.”
The
resolution states that “mainland residents of North Carolina enjoy free,
un-tolled access to state-maintained roads, highways and bridges funded by the
general tax base, to which coastal residents also contribute.”
The
resolution asserts that “imposing additional transit fees on local citizens
simply because they reside in a coastal region creates an unfair system of
double taxation, and the financial burden of new or increased tolls will
disproportionately harm local working families, small businesses and
fixed-income retirees who have no viable alternative transit routes.”
The
nine counties implore NCDOT to develop “a fair and equitable solution” that distinguishes
between daily local commuters who utilize the ferry system as an essential
highway and tourists who use the system for recreation.
The
counties’ resolution strongly recommends that “any necessary state revenue
adjustments focus strictly on non-resident, seasonal tourism traffic, rather
than penalizing local citizens.”
Residents
of Hyde County who use the Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry regularly are
raising additional concerns.
Joy
Crist, editor of the Island Free Press, based in Hatteras, said that Ocracoke’s
long-time “resident priority boarding system needs to remain.”
This
issue is a top priority for Hyde County, the Ocracoke Civic and Business
Association (OCBA), and the Ocracoke Access Alliance (OAA).
Speaker
after speaker at a recent community meeting “described the ferry as Ocracoke’s
highway to medical care, work, school and other basic services…and warned that
eliminating priority boarding could fundamentally change day-to-day life on the
island.”
Mary
Ellen Ballance, Dare County commissioner; Tess Judge, a member of the North
Carolina Board of Transportation; Jed Dixon, Ferry Division director; and Justin
LeBlanc, executive director of the Ocracoke Access Alliance.
OCBA
President Bob Chestnut said a new state law requiring tolls on every North
Carolina ferry route beginning Jan. 1, 2027, is especially troubling to
Ocracoke residents because it does not continue the priority loading component.
Presently,
businesses, vendors and residents can apply for free passes to get priority
loading status for the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route. These are decals that are
placed on the driver-side windshield of a vehicle. Loading attendants direct
“PRIORITY” vehicles to use “PRIORITY” lanes for boarding at both ferry
terminals.
Justin
LeBlanc, executive director of the OAA, said Ocracoke’s resident priority
system has operated for roughly 40 years without being specifically authorized
or prohibited by state law.
Crist
wrote: “According to LeBlanc, NCDOT has determined that once the new tolling
law takes effect, the agency will need explicit statutory authority from the
General Assembly to continue the resident priority program.”
LeBlanc
said: “The only way we get priority pass back is getting a new law enacted by
the General Assembly.”
Business
and government leaders are pushing for “a technical correction” when the
General Assembly reconvenes Nov. 30.
“Draft legislative language has already
been prepared that would authorize continued priority access for Ocracoke
residents,” LeBlanc said.
Hyde
County Schools Superintendent Melanie Shaver said the ferry connects not only
the island to the mainland but the two geographically separated parts of the
Hyde County school system.
“The
ferry is not simply a transportation option; it is the road that connects our
communities, our schools and our services,” Dr. Shaver said. “For visitors,
missing a ferry might simply mean waiting for another boat. For an Ocracoke
resident, the consequences can be considerably greater.”
“That
ferry means missing a dental or medical appointment, attending a school event
to see their child, accessing services or simply just getting home,” Dr. Shaver
said.
Illustrated on the logo are Lake Mattamuskeet Lodge and pump station (at left) on the Hyde County
mainland and the iconic Ocracoke Island Lighthouse.
Ken DeBarth, president of the Ocracoke Preservation Society, said: “The boats are our way of life. We need the priority pass. Please make a correction.”
