Looks like $7 bucks one way — Pay Up . . . Or Drive Around

RALEIGH – Last week the NC Ferry Division presented its toll rate recommendations to the Board of Transportation. Starting Jan. 1, the Ferry Division will collect tolls on ferry routes that are currently free: Currituck-Knotts Island, Aurora-Bayview, Hatteras-Ocracoke and Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach.

Ferry Division Director Jed Dixon made the Oct. 8 presentation.

“We recognize this is a significant change for the residents and communities who rely on ferries for essential travel,” Dixon said. “Ultimately, we had to meet the requirements outlined in the law, minimize impacts to ferry operations and account for the potential impacts the tolls could have on our customers and coastal communities.”

Dixon presented the following recommended base toll rates for one-way routes:

• $10 each way for Hatteras-Ocracoke 

• $7 each way for Currituck-Knotts Island, Aurora-Bayview and Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach 

The law requires a $150 annual commuter pass for active-duty military and eligible permanent residents in the state’s 20 coastal counties. Each pass pays for one vehicle a year on all ferry routes.

The new state law requires that toll revenue support the replacement of ferry vessels, which was a critical factor in the methodology the division used to determine the Division’s recommended rates, Dixon said.