The North Carolina Utilities Commission has approved a new, hybrid schedule for ferry service to and from Bald Head Island.
The commission issued an order last Friday permitting Bald Head Island Transportation Inc. to operate on a 60-minute roundtrip schedule during peak morning and evening hours. Trips between the ferry landing in Southport and the Brunswick County island will run every 45 minutes through the middle of the day.
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Bald Head Island Transportation, or BHIT, is “working towards” implementing the new, revised schedule Dec. 1, according to a Village of Bald Head Island news release.
“BHI Transportation understands the importance of on-time performance and has worked with Island organizations to develop a revised ferry schedule to significantly improve on this important metric,” Chad Paul, CEO of the transportation company, said in a statement. “We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible.”
The hybrid schedule is the result of settlement reached in September between the village, Bald Head Island Club, Bald Head Association, Bald Head Academy and BHIT, which initially applied to the commission to shift to a 90-minute schedule to improve on-time performance.
Business and property owners pushed back on that proposed schedule, arguing the run times would no longer coincide with start and end times of the only school on the island, increase commute times for workers going to and from the island, and force businesses on the island to cut their hours of operation.
The agreement approved by the utilities commission includes that the hybrid schedule operates on a one-year trial period, that the transportation company hold a bi-annual review with the village and other groups listed in the settlement, that the company eliminate the existing mid-day lunch break, and that it develop a reservation system for island employees and contractors on the contractor ferry. That reservation system is expected to roll out by Jan. 31, 2025.
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After the trial period ends, the company may make additional changes to the schedule if it results in “significant capacity issues,” according to the release.
“On behalf of the intervenors in this proceeding, we are pleased with the Commission’s order,” Village Mayor Peter Quinn said in a statement. “We want to reiterate our appreciation to BHIT for their willingness to work with us on a solution that works better for system users than the original proposal. We recognize that change can be hard, especially when Bald Head Island has been used to a ferry schedule that has existed for some time. That said, the new schedule will improve the ability of BHIT to have ferries departing and arriving on time. Along with increased usage of the reservation system, these combined actions by BHIT will improve certainty around travel planning. We want to encourage patience by all as BHIT works to implement the revised schedule.”
