Ferry Plan Aims to Get Commuters off Highway : Transportation: Businessman has dreams of launching a passenger shuttle service that will link ports from San Diego to Orange and Los Angeles counties.

It was a little-noticed blip on the March 31 County Board of Supervisors’ agenda--a five-year license for a passenger shuttle from Dana Point Harbor to Catalina Island.

The 30-mile shuttle route was quietly approved by the county, and the state Coastal Commission followed suit Thursday. With the approvals, W.T. (Ted) Gurnee, a retired career Navy officer, was a step closer to establishing a local water taxi empire whose motto could be: “Today Catalina Island, tomorrow the entire Southern California coast.”

Gurnee, president of Chula Vista-based SeaJet Cruise Lines, has dreams of launching a high-speed ferry service as an alternative to increasingly congested onshore commuter corridors. For the past several months, Gurnee has been quietly seeking governmental backing to connect ports from National City in San Diego County to several locations in Orange County and on to the Los Angeles County shoreline.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, Gurnee foresees 2,000 passengers per day--perhaps with their cars--traveling up and down the coast on a fleet of five boats with a top speed of 50 knots.

“With the (federal) Clean Air Act as a mandate, our company’s goal is to move people off the highway,” Gurnee said. “As any of the commuting lines get jammed up, we’re here as an alternative.”

The concept has already generated excitement in Dana Point Harbor, a marina that is preparing for the future. County officials have drawn up a new master plan for the 20-year-old harbor that calls for major changes, one of which is a launching pad for not only the Catalina ferry, but a commuter shuttle as well.

“We are looking to the future with this line,” said Maury Harrison, whose Dana Village Properties is a major player in the harbor and a master lessee that controls the commercial fishing docks as well as other properties. “It’s not just the Catalina run, but a commute between Dana Point and several other points. That’s our main interest.”

Studies show that San Diego and Orange counties are increasingly linked as a commuter corridor. In a search for affordable housing, Orange County residents are increasingly moving to northern San Diego County and commuting north, while Orange County workers seeking a relatively booming economy are increasingly commuting south to San Diego County, said Garry Bonelli, a spokesman for the San Diego Assn. of Governments (SanDAG).

“Those of us in the San Diego region think the I-5 corridor will be so congested in the future, we can use any alternative to moving people in a north-south direction,” Bonelli said. “To us, an ocean venture makes sense, if it’s carrying even 400 people a day. That’s 400 less on the highway, which helps.”

Statistics back up Bonelli’s concerns. According to SanDAG estimates, in 1988 there were 180,000 average daily vehicle trips along Interstate 5 through San Diego County, a figure expected to climb to 280,000 by 2010.

Gurnee and his associates believe that many of those commuters would rather be relaxing in a relatively comfortable setting that will allow them to read, work or just leave the driving to someone else.

“We will have tables or seats where someone can sit down and work on their laptop computer, read a newspaper or just relax and watch television,” said Jim Manues, vice president of SeaJet Cruise Lines. “We think we can offer a faster option than sitting in a parking lot on a freeway, and certainly one that’s much more comfortable. . . . We’re a train on the water, that’s what it amounts to.”

The comfort will be offered by one of two boat designs Gurnee’s company has a license to manufacture. One is a catamaran and the other a monohull, and both can carry about 400 passengers and are equipped with what Manues calls “computer-stabilized ride control.”

“That basically means you don’t get seasick,” said Manues, a former chief executive officer of the Oceanside Harbor District. “The computer stabilization mechanism works like a big shock absorber.”

Gurnee said his long-range plans call for boats that can carry “about 300 cars and 300 to 400 people from San Diego to Los Angeles in a guaranteed 90 minutes.” The fare could be as little as $3 to $3.50 if federal subsidies are approved, company representatives said, and the service could be started in as soon as two years if the necessary local and state government approvals are granted.

Projected to be more popular than the San Diego-Los Angeles route, however, are shorter range commuter hops, such as Dana Point to Oceanside or Dana Point to Long Beach, Manues said.

“The real long hauls on ferries don’t pay off that much,” he said. “We’re really looking at the shorter runs where we can cut maybe a half-hour off of a commute and have someone sitting at a computer working rather than sitting in a car frustrated.”

Gurnee’s various subsidiary companies have already established similar operations in New York, running ferries from La Guardia Airport to Manhattan, and in Hawaii, where they have entered a 20-year agreement to operate a commuter ferry line in Honolulu to Waikiki and other ports. SeaJet already operates profitable ferry ventures from San Diego and Oceanside to Catalina.

In Orange County, Gurnee now has a written agreement with the county government to do ridership surveys to determine the best places to set up landing facilities. Parking areas and a land shuttle service from the harbors to business centers are also part of the package, Manues said.

“Any commuter service has to be tied in with local land transportation,” Manues said.

An important part of the venture is the ongoing pressure on local employers to find alternative commuting routes for their workers. The state, by way of various air quality acts, has made it mandatory for employers to reduce the number of employee cars on the roads.

“Certainly one of the items we are working on locally is agreements with companies. They are a key for us,” Manues said.

Another key is funding. The vessels alone cost an estimated $5 million to $10 million apiece, and each route could cost an estimated $20 million to establish if related costs such as establishing parking facilities and securing docking rights are factored in, Manues said.

Gurnee has discussed his plans for federal funding help with the Urban Mass Transit Administration, which works with SanDAG. He is also working with Dillon, Read & Co., a New York investment bank, to arrange funding.

His fellow transportation experts wish him well. Interstate 5 is the “corridor of most impact” in Southern California, and “there’s not a whole lot more we can do to add more capacity,” said Dale Ratzlaff, Caltrans’ deputy district director for planning and public transportation.

“The demand is so high out there for any kind of commuter service, people will use it,” Ratzlaff said.