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NCDOT will hold a final public hearing next Wednesday in Pamlico County -- and accept public comment until Thursday, Feb. 16 -- on its  plans to set higher rates for ferry tolls and commuter passes starting April 1.

Under orders from the General Assembly, NCDOT will start charging tolls on two commuter ferries now toll-free, and it will increase rates collected on three ferries where riders pay now (see 1/11/12 story with reader comments and more in 1/4/12 blog post - and more comments and photos with 2/5/12 story).

At the Feb. 15 meeting in Grantsboro, DOT officials will hear public comment after they outline the options they're considering:

Currituck - Knotts Island (Currituck Sound)
Free ferry, 45 minutes. Will remain toll-free. ... [MORE]

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Ferry patrons will have two chances this week to speak out at public meetings -- tonight in Morehead City, Tuesday night in Southport -- about DOT plans to set higher rates for ferry tolls and commuter passes starting April 1.

Under orders from the General Assembly, DOT will start charging tolls on two commuter ferries now toll-free, and it will increase rates collected on three ferries where riders pay now (see 1/11/12 story with reader comments) and more in 1/4/12 blog post).

At this week's meetings and another one Feb. 15 in Grantsboro, DOT officials will hear public comment after they outline the options they're considering:

Currituck - Knotts Island (Currituck Sound)
Free ferry, 45 minutes. Will remain toll-free.

Swan Quarter - Ocracoke (Pamlico Sound)
Toll $15 for car & driver. 2 hours 30 minutes.
Proposed new toll $25 to $33, plus possible $5 passenger fare.
One-year commuter pass (now $150) proposed $300, $400 or $500.

Hatteras - Ocracoke (Hatteras Inlet)
Free ferry, 40 minutes. Will remain toll-free.

Bayview - Aurora (Neuse River)
Free ferry, 30 minutes.
Proposed new toll $10 or $12 for car & driver, plus possible $2 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $200, $400 or $500.

Cedar Island - Ocracoke (Pamlico Sound)
Toll $15 for car & driver. 2 hours 15 minutes.
Proposed new toll $25 to $33, plus possible $5 passenger fare.
One-year commuter pass (now $150) proposed $300, $400 or $500.

Cherry Branch - Minnesott Beach (Neuse River)
Free ferry, 20 minutes.
Proposed new toll $4 or $7 for car & driver, plus possible $1 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $150, $400 or $500.

Southport - Fort Fisher (Cape Fear River)
Toll $5 for car & driver. 35 minutes.
Proposed new toll $10 or $12, plus possible $2 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $200, $400 or $500.

Here are the public meeting locations:

Tonight (Monday, Jan. 30), 7 p.m.
Morehead City-Beaufort, NC No. 1710 Elks Lodge
400 Miller Farm Road, Morehead City
 
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m.
I.L.A. Union Hall
211 W. 10th St., Southport

Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.
Pamlico Community College
Ned Everett Delamar Center Auditorium
5049 Highway 306 S., Grantsboro

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The state Department of Transportation is steaming ahead with plans to end free rides on two of its coastal ferries, and to charge sharply higher fares on three other ferries, starting in April. [Update: see 1/11/12 story with reader comments.]

Public hearings are planned in late January on options for toll rates outlined in a new consultant study (see draft copy below).

“We want to present this to the public and let them weigh in on it,” said Ted Vaden, a deputy DOT secretary.

DOT officials will decide how high to set tolls for individual vehicles, whether to start adding charges for each vehicle passenger, and how much to charge for an annual commuter pass.

The legislature last year ordered DOT to increase ferry revenues by $2.5 million a year (correction posted 11:45am 1/5/11), and to start collecting tolls on two river ferries, now toll-free, that are used heavily by coastal commuters ... [MORE].

Georgia received $4.1 million and the District of Columbia received $2.9 million in federal grants to advance work on the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor through Virginia and North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Transportation said today.

Georgia will use the money for a service development plan and environmental study on a 250-mile passenger rail corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte. The District of Columbia will use its grant to study renovating or replacing the 100-year-old Long Bridge over the Potomac River, which carries 90 passenger and freight trains daily.

Nearly $581 million in federal grants have been awarded, mostly in North Carolina, for work on the corridor.  North Carolina recently received a $4 million grant to complete environmental and design work on a new track between Raleigh and Richmond that could cut travel times by 90 minutes.

A possible cap on the state gas tax is among the agenda items for this week's drive-by session of the General Assembly. This could be a tough decision.

If the Republicans who control the legislature agree to stop the tax from rising higher in January (in keeping with their lower-tax leanings), they will effectively cut this year's budget for road and bridge repair (one of their few higher-spending priorities).

[11/29/11 update: House caps it, Senate ignores it. See today's story.]

North Carolina's motor fuels tax rose in July to its current record-high 35 cents per gallon -- leaving only eight states with a higher gas tax, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The tax rate is set by a formula that will change the tax on Jan. 1 based on average wholesale fuel prices from April through September.

Gas prices have fallen recently, but they were higher during that six-month period. So if the legislature does nothing, the tax will rise in January to 38.9 or 39 cents ... [MORE].

The state Department of Transportation will eliminate more than 400 positions in the coming months, DOT Secretary Gene Conti told employees today.

"Those positions will no longer exist in this department as of June 30, 2012," Conti announced by email. "We are notifying staff as soon as we are certain their positions will be eliminated."

Conti cited budget cuts that have required all state government departments to reduce spending. 

"We were not immune, although we were given time to decide how to make the necessary workforce reductions," he said. ... [MORE]

North Carolina will make use of low-interest federal GARVEE bonds to accelerate construction schedules for urban loops in Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Greenville, Greensboro, Asheville and Fayetteville, Gov. Bev Perdue said today.
 
Most of the projects will move ahead about two years sooner than scheduled.

In Winston-Salem, where there had been no funding reserved and no schedule established for the future I-74 Northern Beltway, Perdue said the state will begin buying right-of-way in 2012 and start construction in 2015.
 
Other loops that will benefit from earlier schedules are ... [MORE]

The Raleigh City Council will hold a public hearing Aug. 2 on two bond proposals planned for the Oct. 11 ballot: $16 million for affordable housing and $40 million for transportation projects.  The hearing starts at 7 p.m. in the municipal building city council chamber, 222 W. Hargett St.

Here's how the city would spend $40 million in transportation bonds: ... [MORE]

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The little island of Ocracoke has won. In their new budget proposal, Senate Republicans agree with their House counterparts that the state’s busiest ferry, a 40-minute ride from Hatteras to Ocracoke, shall remain toll-free after all.

The budget proposal rolled out today would require the state Department of Transportation to start collecting tolls on two of the four ferries that are free now, both used heavily by commuters: the Neuse River ferry from Cherry Branch to Minnesott Beach, and the Pamlico River ferry from Bayview to Aurora.

There are reports that the new budget also makes changes in funding for rail transit in Charlotte and driver's education classes.

Senate leaders reversed themselves and agreed to keep both the Hatteras-Ocracoke and the less busy Currituck-Knotts Island ferries toll-free.  That matches the House conclusion that both Ocracoke and Knotts islands deserve a toll-free connection to the mainland. ... [MORE]

Senate Republican leaders said today they want to spend much more money on bridge repair and highway maintenance -- and to slash state spending for transit and turnpike projects.

But, while both the House and Senate budgets would reduce other taxes in several areas, Senate leaders said they had not decided whether to take action to prevent a sharp increase in the state gas tax scheduled to take effect in July.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee today received, but was not allowed to vote on, a proposed two-year transportation budget (see documents attached to this post) that would make some big changes in budget proposals offered by Gov. Bev Perdue and the House of Representatives.

The Senate would:

• Kill the $660 million Mid-Currituck Bridge toll project for the Currituck Outer Banks and the $870 million Garden Parkway in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties. [Update: See 5/25/11 story.]... [MORE]