NORFOLK, Virginia – Many people want to travel between downtown Norfolk and the Peninsula without sitting in traffic, and some of them believe the solution might be to travel by water.

Hampton Roads Transit presented the idea to the Newport News City Council at a work session this week. They are studying the feasibility of establishing a ferry connecting the peninsula and Norfolk.

“A healthy metropolitan area should have multiple transportation options. We’re proud to already have buses, express buses, ferries, light rail and paratransit. We need to think about how we enable people to do that. With so many waterways, why not consider some sort of high-speed vessel to bring people together?” Thomas Becher, communications manager for Hampton Roads Transit, told News 3.

The last time a ferry operated a similar route was in 2002, but the service was discontinued due to low passenger numbers.

“Why should it be any different this time?” asked News 3 reporter Erika Craven.

“I think a combination of a higher population density and a high employment density, like the Newport News Shipyard, and maybe a slightly smaller boat with new technology could potentially work,” Becher said.

News 3 met people at Norfolk’s Waterside, where the ferry could one day dock, to get their thoughts.

“It would be good if people had another way to get back and forth,” said Reginald Lewis of Hampton.

Some, like Lewis, said it could help with both traffic and entertainment.

“I only come to Norfolk for events… but if there was a ferry I would come more often, look at the shops and stuff,” Lewis added.

Becher said HRT is monitoring commuters’ wishes.

“Think of the things you could do, similar to what we do on our express buses today. You can answer your emails, you can chat on the phone, you can read,” Becher said.

These commuters are severely limited by the bus routes on the HRBT and MMMBT and often have difficulty finding parking, said Ray Amoruso, HRT’s Chief Planning and Development Officer, at the presentation.

To see if a ferry would be feasible, the HRT study looked at employment and population density as well as travel traffic and identified four possible landing sites that were later narrowed down. Those sites are 28th Street in Newport News, 23rd Street in Newport News, the Virginia Air and Space Science Center in Hampton, and the Hampton Maritime Center.

HRT estimates that a ferry trip between the peninsula and Norfolk on a fast catamaran-style ferry would take about an hour.

No decisions have been made yet.

HRT expects additional data points to become available over the summer.

You can watch the full HRT presentation at the Newport News City Council work session here.