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Local government officials aboard the Provincetown III, a Boston-based ferry, ride under the Wilson Bridge during a commuter-ferry trial run.
Col. Mark Moffatt, deputy garrison commander of Fort Belvoir (right); Don Dees, deputy public affairs office (center); and Claude McMullen, director of logistics, watch scenery. |
By KELLY HANNON
ABOARD THE PROVINCETOWN III
--The view from a commuter ferry gliding up the Potomac River couldn't be more different from the view from a car or van on Interstate 95.On the water, there are no bumper stickers. No rude gestures. No brake lights.
But there are trees, water, birds, palatial homes overlooking the river, and the occasional fisherman in a motorboat.
"The river offers a guarantee. You're not going to be stuck in traffic," said Michael DeRosier, a principal with engineering consultant Greenhorne & O'Mara.
Having exhausted many of the travel options on land for commuters, Prince William County and the Virginia Department of Transportation have turned their attention to one of the last open areas in Northern Virginia--the Potomac.
A $225,000 state grant is funding a study on whether a ferry could bring workers to stops at Fort Belvoir, Alexandria and the Washington Navy Yard--and possibly even Maryland. Southernmost stops could be at Marine Corps Base Quantico or Cherry Hill in Dumfries.
On Tuesday, the Provincetown III made trial runs between ports on the Potomac and Occoquan rivers. Boardings and disembarkations on the 149-passenger boat were timed. Wave sensors recorded the ferry's wake, to see whether there would be any erosion along the shoreline.
Speed will be paramount to the ferry's success or failure.
PAST ATTEMPTS FAILED
In the past, attempts to start a commuter ferry on the Potomac in the 1980s and late 1990s were scuttled because the trip was deemed too expensive and didn't attract enough commuters. A ferry has to compete favorably on time and convenience with carpooling, vanpooling, buses and Virginia Railway Express.
But a fast, hassle-free trip to out-of-the-way destinations could draw riders.
Project officials estimate a round-trip between the Occoquan River and the Washington Navy Yard could take 60 to 65 minutes, each way.
"That's one of the big questions employees will have--how long will it take me to get to work on the ferry?" said passenger Juanita Green, travel demand management coordinator at Fort Belvoir. "They want to be on time, and they want to leave on time."
Even after the trial run this week, it will be hard to say precisely how fast a commuter ferry would go. The Provincetown III was on loan from the Bay State Cruise Co. in Massachusetts. The ferry runs between Boston and Cape Cod every summer.
The Prince William ferry would order its own boats and likely operate as a public-private partnership, said Rick Canizales, county transportation planning manager. The county used the Provincetown III because it was a double-hulled catamaran with a top speed of 30 knots, which is similar to the style Virginia would use, Canizales said.
SOME RESTRICTIONS
Restrictions on the river could bog down the commute, though.
The Provincetown III left Occoquan Harbour Marina Tuesday morning at a pace that seemed only slightly faster than drifting.
There is a no-wake requirement in the Occoquan River, requiring all boats to travel at slow speeds.
Once the boat reached the Potomac, the speed picked up substantially. Wind whipped through the hair of passengers sitting on the exposed top deck.
The ferry maintained a high speed for most of the ride, although it had to slow down again near the dock at Old Town Alexandria and when it passed under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Schedules would be set based on demand, Canizales said. This means if there were demand for large, express boats from Prince William to Belvoir or the Navy Yard, those boats may not make all the stops. Smaller boats may run directly between stops with less demand, he said.
"It can be a 50-person boat running every 30 minutes up and down the river from Indian Head to Fort Belvoir, dropping people off that would otherwise have to go an hour and a half around both states," Canizales said.
Greenhorne & O'Mara, a consulting firm assisting Prince William County with the ferry study, hopes to show that a double-hulled catamaran produces next to no wake at top speeds because it rises out of the water, said Cody Smith, project manager for Greenhorne & O'Mara. Staying at top speed could cut down the trip time for commuters.
Prince William invited government officials to join the ride Tuesday. Coffee and snacks were served from the boat's concessions area on the lower deck, which was enclosed and had tables and cushioned chairs.
Any commuter ferry would likely come equipped with an enclosed cabin, wireless Internet access and cable television, Smith said.
CELL SERVICE WORKED
Most passengers could get cell-phone reception Tuesday.
"You can pop your laptop up and work on the way in," Smith said.
Alexandria city manager James Hartmann is interested in the ferry since only 11 percent of his city's 2,600-employee public work force lives in Alexandria. Many of Alexandria's public servants live in Prince William and Stafford, Hartmann said.
"How we convey people smartly and with an element of green is very important, so this is a very intriguing concept," Hartmann said.
Fort Belvoir officials were aboard Tuesday to investigate the ferry's potential. About 86 percent of base workers drive alone, and only 14 percent use transit, said Col. Mark Moffatt, deputy garrison commander for transformation and BRAC.
About 24,000 people currently work at Fort Belvoir, and an additional 19,000 employees are coming as part of Base Realignment and Closure Commission job shifts, Moffatt said.
Shifting people to a ferry, which would collect workers at a dock and then bring them to individual offices on base by bus, would provide another option, he said.
SOME DREDGING LIKELY
But there are barriers. The water near the dock at Fort Belvoir was too shallow for the Provincetown III. The area would need to be dredged before service could begin. Dredging would also be needed at Indian Head in Maryland, if the study finds stopping at the Naval Support Facility there would be feasible. On Tuesday, the Provincetown III had to make several attempts to dock at Indian Head.
When word spread that Prince William was looking into ferry service, Canizales started to hear from commuters eager to board. "That's the biggest question: When is it starting, and how much does it cost," he said.
Canizales has no idea yet.
The data from the trial runs should be presented to the Prince William Board of Supervisors in July, Canizales said. From there, it would take another year to do a marketing study, to see how many commuters would ride the ferry, at what price, and to which destinations.
If the county still wants to go forward once it has those answers, it would take at least another year to do environmental studies and seek private partners, who could potentially run service to Washington Nationals games and tourism sites on the weekends, he said.
Waiting for boats to be built can add another 18 months to two years.
Canizales estimated it would be four to five years before commuters ever stepped on a ferry.
But Hartmann thinks demand may exist.
"Looking at I-95 coming down this morning; it's a concept worth pursuing," Hartmann said.
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
