Private firms are exploring adding a ferry service to the commuting options available to Prince William County residents who work in the District of Columbia.
The service, which is not expected to start for three years, would use the Potomac River to take passengers from Quantico to the Navy Yard in Southeast D.C. Test trips last week took 55 minutes each way.
Local officials have been discussing ferry service in the area since the 1990s. Rapid growth in Prince William and points south has significantly worsened the commute from the Quantico area into the District — driving the 34 miles between Quantico and the District can take 90 minutes or longer during heavy rush hours.
Area commuters can choose among buses and the Virginia Railway Express to avoid driving into the city.
White’s Ferry, which takes passengers across the Potomac between Leesburg and Poolesville, is the only service operating on the river. In April, a water taxi will start linking the National Harbor development in Oxon Hill and Old Town Alexandria.
“River travel has the ability to take some pressure off roads and rail,” says Richard W. Hausler, president of Kettler, a Northern Virginia real estate firm that is teaming with Alexandria company MetroMarine and Indiana’s Hornblower Marine Services, which operates ferries throughout the United States, Japan and the Caribbean.
Project planners have not determined how much passengers would pay for the service. The next step in the endeavor will come in the spring, when more test trips are planned.
Concerns about the navigability of the Potomac River throwing trips off-schedule have plagued past ferry proposals.
“To be successful, reliability is a key issue,” said Bob Chase, executive director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
Kettler and MetroMarine also would have to construct a terminal for the ferry service north of the Quantico Corps Marine Base and receive approval from the military and the D.C. government to stop at the Navy Yard.
