THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605170228
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Water taxis are looking better all the time.
A regional transportation expert has predicted gridlock in Hampton Roads to rival Northern Virginia within 10 years. That means people will spend more time commuting to work, averaging about 10 miles per hour on the trip. The tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth will be ``parking lots,'' he said.
The grim projection rings true because we already are seeing more and more traffic jams and tunnel backups around here.
Traveling by water may be one way to avoid some of the problem.
From time to time, there has been some talk of establishing some fast-moving boat routes to move people around Hampton Roads, especially commuters to shipyards and Naval bases.
Years ago one entrepreneur wanted to run a commuter route for shipyard workers between Newport News and Portsmouth. It never materialized because it was not supported by the Navy yard.
Recently, planning consultant Ray Gindroz again brought up the notion of water transportation. Fast passenger boats could be used for commuting and for pleasure.
The success of the Elizabeth River Ferry, which moves thousands between Norfolk and Portsmouth every year shows that people will use boats. In fact, quite a few people who work or live in downtown Norfolk and downtown Portsmouth do use the ferry to commute to work. Many of us use it for pleasure trips and many of us would like to take a fast boat to places like Williamsburg.
Hampton Roads has lots of water. Much of it is suitable for commuter boats and many of the largest employers also happen to be near the water. Portsmouth and Norfolk need to work together to find a private entrepreneur interested in running boats around here and to get cooperation from the shipyards and the Navy to dock the boats at convenient locations.
Using the rivers that interlace all of Hampton Roads could ease some of the highway congestion and certainly could make living around here more fun. by CNB