Final meeting to weigh in on proposed ferry tolls set for Wednesday

BAYBORO, N.C. (WNCT) – A final meeting on proposed ferry tolls is set for Wednesday.

The meeting will be at Pamlico Community College in the Ned Everett Delamar Center Auditorium. It starts at 7:00 p.m. and is open to the public.

State DOT officials will answer any questions about ferry toll proposals for the Bayview-Aurora and Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach routes.

Tolls already exist for the Southport-Fort Fisher, Swan Quarter-Ocracoke and Cedar Island-Ocracoke route but those tolls could go up.

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GREENVILLE, N.C. - The State Department of Transportation wants you to weigh in on proposed fees for our state's ferry service.

There are a few meetings this week to look at the four proposals on the table.

Tonight's meeting is in Morehead City at 7. It's at the Elks Lodge on Miller Farm Road.

There's another one in Southport Tuesday. That's also at 7.

It's at the Union Hall on 10th Street.

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HAVELOCK, N.C. - If you live along the coast, there’s a good chance you use the state’s ferry service on a regular basis.  But deep budget cuts from the State House in Raleigh are forcing the Department of Transportation to start charging fees on some free routes and hiking up the cost to ride in others.

It’s been free to take the ferry at the Cherry Branch Ferry Station for decades. The ferry  connects Craven and Pamlico counties. Over the years, it’s transported countless workers from their homes across the river to Cherry Point.  And those are the people critics say will be affected the most by the fees.

“It's a tax to the local folks is what it is,” said David Stewart, retired from Cherry Point and has been taking the ferry for years.

And Stewart says after paying gas tax to fill up your car, charging for the ferry seems unfair. 

“We pay the highest gas tax and they just increased that. It pays for our roads and this is an extension of Highway 306, I think it's crazy," said Stewart.

James parker of Aurora agrees.

“All of the workers have a problem trying to figure out how they are going to pay this. The economy is kind of bad they don’t have a lot of money in their pocket,” said Parker.

DOT officials say while the Ferry Division has been subjected to deep cuts in funding over the years, this toll wasn’t their idea. It was a mandate from the State House called House Bill 200.

It stated that the DOT would have to establish tolls for all ferry routes except for the Okracoke-Hatteres Ferry and the Knotts Island Ferry and we needed to generate an additional 5 million in revenue. 

Mandate or not some members of the public aren’t happy.

"I don't care whether it's law. If it's going to be a tax on the ferry system let's do like other places and tax the tourists,” said Stewart.

And ideas like’s Stewart’s are what DOT officials say they are eager to hear at upcoming public hearings.

We’ve seen other scenarios where the DOT hosts meetings, but some members of the public say they feel DOT officials don’t really listen.