New Year, New Ferry Schedules

After reviewing traffic patterns and consulting with stakeholders across Eastern North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division today released its 2015 schedule.

The new schedule is a reflection of the Ferry System’s commitment to reliable passenger service as well as to responsible management of taxpayer money.

Significant changes from the 2014 Schedule include:

• Elimination of lightly traveled night runs on the Pamlico River between Bayview and Aurora. The changes were made after consulting with officials at PCS Phosphate Corporation, whose employees comprise a majority of traffic on the Pamlico River route.
• Moving one winter Pamlico Sound departure from Cedar Island to Swan Quarter. The change will give each destination three daily round trips to Ocracoke. Summer schedules will remain the same, with six round trips from Cedar Island and four from Swan Quarter.

“This new schedule gives us the best possible service for the money available,” said Ferry Division Director Ed Goodwin. “As much as we hate to eliminate any ferry runs, many of those night runs on the Pamlico River had little or no traffic. Eliminating those runs will save the Ferry System hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.”

The complete 2015 Ferry Schedule can be found at http://www.ncdot.gov/download/transit/ferry/2015Schedules.pdf. All new schedules will take effect on Thursday, January 1, 2015.