Eighteen months ago, a consortium representing Anne Arundel County, Calvert County, Queen Anne’s County, Somerset County, and Saint Mary’s County released a feasibility study on a new Chesapeake Bay passenger-only (no cars) ferry boat service. The study was funded with a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, along with contributions from each of the four counties. The study concluded this new service would be used by roughly 50,000 people annually from May to September.
The grant for a feasibility study has not been the only federal money spent or approved on this matter. Another federal grant commitment of $3.9 million was approved for purchases of new “green “passenger ferry boats.
In the most recent update on this proposed initiative, a consortium spokesperson said they hope to launch this new service in 2030. The spokesperson also said, “One of the things we really try to avoid is to create studies that are just done for the sake of a study. So, where we are now is trying to follow the recommendations of this study and see if we can’t take it to the next step.” The spokesperson also said, “If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be for a lack of trying.”
Lack of trying should be the least of the consortium’s concerns.
One concern is what the results of reviews by the Army Corps of Engineers will be regarding the ferry boats’ impacts on fish, wetlands, the overall aquatic habitat, and public health.
Another concern is the short- and long-term funding for this initiative, which is competing with other transportation projects in Maryland. The consortium projects the ferry system will need an estimated $8 million to buy the ferries, $4.8 million to fund necessary docking improvements. They also project the new system will sustain a net loss of $2.5 million in the first year of operations without a subsidy at the local, state, or federal levels and $5 million annually to operate the system.
How realistic is it to expect the Trump administration to approve 100% federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge as promised previously by the Biden administration? The Trump administration has already expressed concerns that the latest estimates for this essential rebuild project may cost $5.2 billion which is more than twice original estimates. There is no guarantee the Trump administration will approve any or all of those costs, nor is there any guarantee the final costs will not be even higher than the latest estimates.
How realistic is it to expect state funding for a new Bay passenger-only ferry boat service?
When the Maryland General Assembly convenes later this month, its focus will be on addressing a projected at least a $1.2 billion state budget deficit for this fiscal year, as well as projected future structural deficits. Still to be addressed by the General Assembly is a projected new revenue need of $4 billion annually to fully fund the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, also known as the Kirwan Plan.
With regard to far too many government-funded programs, expenses very rarely come in at or lower than projected. Instead, cost overruns are standard operating procedure.
There is another grave concern about the new publicly funded passenger ferry boat service on the Chesapeake Bay.
What will be the impact on privately owned and operated tour boat operators who already offer a wide range of tours on the Bay?
These tour boat operators offer regularly scheduled Bay tours as well as customized charter trips to and from Baltimore, Annapolis, St. Michaels, Crisfield, and Cambridge, among other Bay locations. These charter tours can be customized to go anywhere in the Bay that clients want to go, whenever they want to go, and for as long a time or as short a time they want to go. For example, last summer a small business in Easton chartered a tour boat for a round-trip on the Bay between Kent Island and the Inner Harbor in Baltimore for its employees. That trip included an Orioles game. By all accounts, this outing was a great success.
One has to ask if it is necessary to launch a new publicly funded boat tour service to compete with existing and successful privately owned businesses.
This proposal is a taxpayer-funded solution searching for a problem.
If this consortium and their supporters want to help solve a real problem, they need to look no further than assisting Maryland to owners and operators of recreational fishing charter boats. They have been struggling mightily due to government regulations that put draconian limits on recreational fishing for Striped Sea Bass, also known as Rockfish. Historically, boats chartered for recreational fishing of Rockfish in the Bay have attracted recreational fishing enthusiasts from across Maryland and from surrounding states. Unless or until those limits are modified or rescinded, these charter fishing boat operators desperately need new clients. They can, and they should be helped to transition to serving the predicted public demand in the Chesapeake ferry boat consortium’s feasibility study of roughly 50,000 people for Bay boat tours.
All these concerns lead one to ask THE single most important question on this issue. Should a launch of a new Chesapeake Bay passenger ferry boat system continue to be pursued simply to meet a consortium’s goals of “trying to follow the recommendations of this study and see if we can’t take it to the next step” and “If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be for a lack of trying”.
Peter F. Drucker has observed, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
Given the above concerns, pursuing a new Bay ferry boat system should NOT be done at all.
David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant who lives in Easton.
Laurie Mansfield says
If there was a new ferry system, it should be a car ferry. In this way, once people arrived across the bay they could continue on their way to a destination on the Delmarva.
A passenger ferry is not practical. What will the people do when they disembark?
Take a look at successful car ferries along the East Coast of the USA. They provide a valuable service to people.
Mandy Clever says
Exactly, I get the general idea, and yes, it could be a new boom of tourism, but what happens when the boat lands here on the shore?? I mean, even in Easton, you can’t just walk to downtown or your hotel, etc. If you don’t have wheels on the shore…you are screwed. There is no public transit. All this money spent on planning and I have yet to hear an answer about what happens once someone lands. It would be fine to get you from the shore to Annapolis or Baltimore….but any other location and you are SOL when you arrive unless a plan is in place to fund transportation.
Rebecca Ellison says
I strongly recommend a careful reading of the various documents underlying this totally nonsensical scheme. Maybe Google ‘Chesapeake Bay passenger ferries’.