March 17,  2009



North Carolina’s revenue shortfall and budget cuts are taking a toll on the state’s ferry schedules.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division has announced changes to five of its seven routes, due to budget constraints and U.S. Coast Guard staffing requirements. These changes go into effect April 14.

Changes to the Pamlico Sound toll trips involve not adding in the extra summer runs. For the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes, the winter schedule will remain in effect year-round.

• Departure times from Cedar Island and Ocracoke will remain 7:30 a.m., 10:30, 2 p.m. and 5.
• Departure times from Swan Quarter will remain 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Departure times from Ocracoke to Swan Quarter remain 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The Ferry Division sought input from riders on proposed schedule changes for both the Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach and Bayview-Aurora routes to minimize inconvenience to commuters. This input was taken into consideration when finalizing the new schedules.

At Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach, some runs have been deleted and some have been added in.

• Departure times from Cherry Branch will be: 5:05 a.m., 5:55, 6:35, 7:15, 7:55, 8:45, 9:45, 11:45, 12:15 p.m., 1:15, 1:45, 2:45, 3:15, 3:45, 4:05, 4:25, 4:45, 5:05, 5:25, 6:05, 6:45, 7:45, 8:45, 9:45 and 11 p.m.
• Departure times from Minnesott Beach will be: 5:25 a.m., 6:15, 6:55, 7:35, 8:15, 9:15, 10:15, 12:15 p.m., 12:45, 1:45, 2:15, 3:15, 3:45, 4:05, 4:25, 4:45, 5:05, 5:25, 5:45, 6:25, 7:15, 8:15, 9:15, 10:15 and 11:30.

The Bayview-Aurora route also has some deletions of runs, but all efforts were made to meet the needs of workers commuting to the PCS facility.

• Departure times from Bayview will be: 5:30 a.m., 7, 8:30, 12:15 p.m., 1:30, 3:15, 5:30 and 7.
• Departing from Aurora, the times will be: 6:15 a.m., 7:45, 11:15, 12:50 p.m., 2:15, 4:45, 6:15 and 7:45.

The Southport-Fort Fisher route went to its winter schedule year-round on Feb. 2. The Currituck-Knotts Island schedule will not change, nor will the current Hatteras-Ocracoke schedule. Hatteras will begin running its summer schedule May 12.

To view the schedules, visit the ferry web site at www.ncferry.org or call 1-800-By-Ferry.

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