Category:Ferries of North Carolina

North Carolina has the second most extensive state-operated system of vehicle and passenger ferries in the United States, as well as numerous privately operated routes.^[1] The [North Carolina Department of Transportation's Ferry Division] extends over seven routes, operates 21 ferries, and employs more than 400 workers.^[2] Tourists, commuters, schoolchildren, commercial and public vehicles, and the military all make use of the state’s public and private ferries.

Ferries operated at scores of North Carolina river crossings from the eighteenth century through the end of the nineteenth, when bridges and improved roads began to outpace them. Coastal ferries were first established from the mainland to the Outer Banks by private entrepreneurs with tugs and wooden barges. In the 1920s, development of a statewide highway system to connect all North Carolina county seats also required links by ferry if no bridge existed, and by 1934 the state highway commission began subsidizing private ferry routes to make tolls affordable to travelers. In 1938 the state promised to increase its subsidy to offset tolls completely. From 1942 to 1950 the service was fully subsidized and free to travelers.

Ferry routes were initially established to serve local enterprise and government, providing access for farmers and loggers to bring their goods to market, and to give citizens of remote regions easier access to county services and government. But it became apparent that tourism was a major incentive as well. The surge in leisure travel after the end of World War II brought automobiles to the North Carolina coast in growing numbers.^[3] Today the Ferry Division transports nearly 2.5 million passengers and 1.3 million vehicles annually.^[4]

The North Carolina Ferry Division can accommodate any size car, trailer or RV that can legally operate on the highway, as well as bicycles and pedestrians. Each ferryboat is affiliated with a college or university within the state of North Carolina and displays the school's logo and colors.

Brannon, Barbara. The Ferries of North Carolina: Traveling the State's Nautical Highways. Winoca Press, 2006 North Carolina Department of Transportation, Ferry Division. www.ncdot.org/transit/ferry