Locals Deciding Whether To Charge Ferry Tolls | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Money to replace ferries must come from tolls or highway budget

    RALEIGH     Eastern North Carolina traffic planners are in the process of deciding whether to add tolls to ferries that operate up and down the coast, or to divert money for their eventual replacements from the money allocated in their divisional highway budget.

    "I think the [metropolitan planning organizations and rural planning organizations] get the fact that some day, our ferries are going to have to be replaced," said Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, who co-chairs a Senate appropriations subcommittee overseeing transportation budgets.

    The planning organizations are regional entities designed to set priorities for transportation spending.

    "They don't want to see a big-time capital outlay like that coming at the expense of roads and bridges in the district," Rabon said.

    Currently, three coastal ferries collect tolls on their routes: the Cedar Island-Ocracoke ferry; the Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferry; and the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry.

    One-way tolls for passenger cars on the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferries are $15. One-way tolls for the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry are $5.

    In 2011, the General Assembly tried to expand tolls to cover more ferry routes. Some proposals called for tolling all ferry routes, while others limited the routes that would be covered.

    The 2013 General Assembly decided to give the local planning advisory organizations a say in whether tolls would be charged or increased. Instead of requiring ferry tolls, local planning organizations hold a public hearing and then decide whether to charge them. Localities choosing not to set tolls for ferry routes would have to pay to replace the ferry from its share of the divisional highway budget in the Highway Trust Fund.

    Those local officials that do not collect tolls, said Tim Hass, a spokesman for the Ferry Division, are "requiring ferry replacements [to] compete with roads, bridges, and other projects." Replacing a ferry can range from $12 million to $20 million, depending on size.

    "We wanted to allow the locals to make the decisions," said Sen. Kathy Harrington, R-Gaston, who also co-chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on transportation. "They wanted to be a part of the conversation."

    Harrington continued, "Transportation is user-fee based. We wanted to move toward that model for the ferries."

    Hass said the local organizations have held their public hearings and are in the process of making their recommendations. He said the Down East RPO had abstained from recommending whether to initiate tolls on the Minnesott Beach-Cherry Branch ferry, and asked the General Assembly to make that decision.

    Trace Cooper, chairman of the Down East RPO, could not be reached for comment.

    "That is their option, not ours," Rabon said of the Down East RPO's decision to punt the issue to the legislature.

    Rabon said the planners in the southeastern part of the state have recommended increasing the one-way toll for the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry from $5 to $7, while keeping the local ferry commuter pass at $150 a year.

    The action could increase the revenues collected from tourists, while allowing commuters who use the ferry regularly to see no increase in their out-of-pocket costs.

    Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, who co-chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, said he originally liked the idea of leaving the decision regarding tolls on ferries in the hands of local planning organizations.

    "I thought it was going to be the answer," Torbett said. Now he feels that some adjustment is in order.

    "Why should people in eastern North Carolina be subject to a ferry toll, when the people in western North Carolina are not having to pay extra for bridges being replaced?" Torbett asked.

    The law, included as a provision in the budget passed last summer by the General Assembly, says that the Board of Transportation shall adopt a ferry toll after receiving a resolution requesting one from the planning organization.

    Once that happens, the Department of Transportation is required to begin collecting tolls "as soon as is feasible," and no longer than 180 days.