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Hampton Roads is so desperate to find something to relieve traffic congestion that it's considering a journey to the past. A private company and Hampton Roads Transit are floating the idea of re-establishing ferries to shuttle commuters between South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula.
Can streetcars and trollies be close behind? Actually, Norfolk's light rail will be running long before this idea sets sail.
The ferries would be used to ease bottlenecks at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. No studies have been done to gauge the demand. The capital and operating costs could be huge. Local residents, when they're struggling to find jobs, aren't likely to endorse huge new public spending.
Still, given the absence of state funding for major transportation projects in the region, any idea is worth studying, and especially if it can be done without public dollars.
Before the first two-lane tunnel of the HRBT opened in 1957, ferries were the only way to cross the harbor. Now, thanks to the end of public investment in transportation alternatives, the HRBT is a frequent bottleneck, with backups that stretch for miles.
The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization recently agreed to ask federal authorities to designate the Hampton Roads harbor as a Marine Highway Corridor. That designation would allow the HRTPO to seek federal dollars for specific projects. An Alexandria company, MetroMarine Holdings, made the request to the HRTPO, and it would seek a public-private partnership.
Company officials said that it would cost about $28 million to set up fast catamarans to shuttle commuters across the water. The money would help pay for boats, dock and landing development and marketing. MetroMarine would start with a pilot program using three vessels, said Alan Gray, the company's president.
Many questions remain. How much would the "public" money be in this venture? Could this effort gain the riders necessary to make it successful? MetroMarine was involved in the Harbor Link ferry here from 1999 to 2002, and the service was a dud. Few riders used the one boat available, especially outside the tourist season. The region put up $1 million in public funds.
HRT, meanwhile, is studying ferry service from Newport News to Norfolk. The capital costs would be $14 million to $15 million. Newport News Mayor Joe Frank requested the study.
If the service is going to cost millions of public dollars, it has to cut congestion on the roads and gain a substantial number of riders. There's nothing wrong with revisiting the past to chart your future. But a trip along the harbor has to provide more than just sentimental value, a cool breeze and lapping waves.
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MPO (TPO) & Pilot pushed Yes Campaign/SB 668/HB 3202
Gosh, how soon the Pilot Editorial Board forgets how THEY helped push billions in new regional sales taxes that regional voters rejected. Increased taxes to pay for a "package" of 6 expensive transportation projects chosen by the all-appointed regional MPO and their "friends" at the Hampton Roads Partnership and Chamber of Commerce. 6 projects chosen for our region that mostly benefited a state owned port and some politically influential special business lobbies; but which did N-O-T add any new lane capacity to the HRBT. Yes, it is true, SB 668 and HB 3202 did NOT add any more capacity to the HRBT. So, now the Pilot folks want to decry the horrific bottle neck at the HRBT?! Gosh, maybe if the Pilot, MPO/HRPDC, General Assembly and past Governors were not in the back pocket of certain business interests, especially the PORT Lobby and their pet project, a $5 Billion Dollar bridge tunnel for adding thousands of new trucks to our region's highways to spur even more real estate over development to the west. Maybe if the Pilot stop pushing useless light rail we would have more funds for dealing with the HRBT?
Not necessarily so...
"If the service is going to cost millions of public dollars, it has to cut congestion on the roads and gain a substantial number of riders"...hold it, not so fast there. The TRT train is going to cost much, much more than that and even it's sponsors say it won't ease congestion.
No, all it needs is for someone to label it Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and the money, lots of money, will flow like the water on which it floats. Taxpayer money, lots of taxpayer money. And the money will only benefit the developers.