Back in December, White's Ferry was closed in part because a cable was destroyed during a Christmas Day flood and in part because of a dispute over landing rights on the Virginia side. After negotiations to reopen it failed, the owners of the ferry sold it to a Virginia businessman and preservation, who will now try to negotiate a deal. I won't bore you with the details, but you can follow the links if you want to know who said what and who offered whom how much money and why a deal is needed and why no one can agree.
The reason this all matters, of course, is that the ferry serves as a connection between the W&OD Trail and the C&O Canal Towpath and many cyclists use it to make a loop (although I've never used the towpath for that loop). It's the only crossing for cyclists between Chain Bridge and the Point of Rocks Bridge - a distance of 40 miles. I've never biked across that latter bridge, which is beautiful, but as it only has 3 foot wide sidewalks, seems less than ideal anyway (not that that is really an alternative to the ferry).
It wasn't cheap and the pricing always bothered me. It cost $3 to take a bike across, but only $5 for a car. And if a driver bought one of their blue books with multiple tickets the price was less than $3 per trip (and less than taking a bike). But whatever - monopoly's gonna monopoly.
A non-operating ferry is bad for cyclists. Opening it would be better. But perhaps the ideal situation would be for some government entity to take it over. They'd be more interested in cutting prices for cyclists and pedestrians - though the argument for that might be weak since I doubt there are many (any?) people who commute over the ferry by bike or on foot.
Another option is a small human-powered ferry, but I can't see why anyone would intervene to build one when the main constituency for the ferry is drivers.
And while I'm reluctant to support new car infrastructure, a one-lane, alternating traffic bridge with a bike/ped lane - like the Union Arch Bridge over Cabin John - might even be better. Toll it for drivers and make it free for cyclists, pedestrians, transit and emergency vehicles. We could try to set the toll so that car traffic remains the same or at some other sustainable level.
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