10-05-2025
Plan of charging tolls for all North Carolina ferry services meets Outer Banks opposition
Eight coastal North Carolina governments are pushing back against a state Senate proposal to charge tolls on all ferry routes — including the Currituck-Knotts Island ferry — and increase existing toll rates.
Included in the North Carolina Senate's budget bill is a proposal to add or increase ferry tolls as a way to generate money for the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the state's Ferry Division.
Service is free on several of North Carolina's seven ferry routes, with fares charged on the Cedar Island-Ocracoke, Swan Quarter-Ocracoke, Southport-Fort Fisher routes and the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry route.
If the budget proposal is adopted, toll rates for the Knotts Island ferry would be $3 for vehicles under 20 feet, $6 for vehicles over 20 feet and $1 for passengers.
The proposal is part of the state's budget bill, which passed the North Carolina Senate in a 30-15 vote. House lawmakers will now have their say on a spending plan.
The Knotts Island ferry serves a peninsula area in northeastern North Carolina near Virginia's state line, connecting Knotts Island to mainland Currituck County. County leaders say the ferry has been free for nearly 50 years, and that it originally was established to provide children on Knotts Island access to schools in the county.
The only alternative at this time between Knotts Island and the mainland of Currituck County is a longer drive through Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
The budget bill would raise toll rates on other routes, such as the Swan Quarter and Cedar Island routes, which could see fees doubled.
Tolls also would be charged for the first time on the Bayview-Aurora, Cherry Branch-Minnesott and Hatteras-Ocracoke routes at $1 for passengers. Rates for Bayview-Aurora and Cherry Branch-Minnesott would be $3 and $5, respectively, for vehicles under 20 feet, and $6 and $10, respectively, for vehicles over 20 feet.
Meanwhile, rates for vehicles would be $20 and $60 for the Hatteras-Ocracoke route.
The collective toll fees are estimated to generate $6.4 million in revenue for fiscal 2026 and fiscal '27, according to a fiscal impact document attached to the budget plan. The toll revenue would be allocated to the state's Ferry Capital Fund for marine vessel replacement.
Local governments in North Carolina are pushing back, including the Currituck County Board of Commissioners, which adopted resolutions decrying the tolls during its regular meeting this week. One was a joint resolution that includes Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Jones, and Pamlico counties.
The resolution states the addition of tolls is an unfair tax burden on Knotts Island residents, who commissioners say are also being penalized due to geographic location and lack of alternative routes.
Commissioners also said the addition of tolls will 'greatly strain' Currituck County government and schools' budgets.
'The Knotts Island-Currituck Ferry Route is relied upon daily by children, young adults, families, and senior citizens for educational, social, and extracurricular activities, including access to healthcare and county services,' the resolution states.
'(The) Knotts Island-Currituck Ferry supports a small, year-round, close-knit community that relies on the ferry as an essential lifeline for daily transportation and connectivity.'
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133,
