| (a) Priority boarding for vehicles is divided into three categories as follows: priority boarding for special situations, priority boarding by annual permit, and priority boarding for humanitarian purposes. (1) Special situation boarding is for the following vehicles, in no specific order of priority. These vehicles shall have priority boarding over all other vehicles in boarding a ferry: (A) ambulances when transporting sick or injured persons, or when responding to or returning from medical emergencies; (B) other vehicles transporting sick or injured persons; (C) fire department vehicles when responding to or returning from fire or medical emergencies; (D) medical doctors who are en route for the emergency care of the sick or injured; (E) law enforcement officers when engaged in the performance of an official duty; (F) U.S. Coast Guard vehicles when responding to or returning from marine emergencies; (G) school buses when going to or returning from school functions; (H) funeral processions; and (I) public transportation vehicles carrying six or more passengers. (2) Priority boarding for vehicles by annual permit shall meet the following conditions. (A) No more than 50% of the ferry capacity will be allocated to priority boarding by annual permit during high demand periods. (B) The fee for an annual permit for the Galveston/Bolivar or Port Aransas ferry is: (i) $250 for a two-axle vehicle, including a motorcycle, car, pickup truck, or van; (ii) $500 for a bus, motor home, or a single unit truck with up to three axles; and (iii) $1,000 for a multi-unit truck or other vehicle with more than three axles. (C) If the applicant purchases more than one annual permit, the subsequent permits for each additional two-axle vehicle registered to the same address as another vehicle with an unexpired annual permit are $150 each. (D) An annual permit expires 12 months after issuance. (E) An application for an annual permit shall be submitted by the vehicle owner on a form prescribed by the department, which shall at a minimum include the vehicle license plate number, state of registration, name of applicant, and mailing address. The application will state acceptable methods of payment. (F) The department will not issue priority boarding stickers for a ferry location until it has received approximately 500 applications for that location. (G) A priority boarding sticker will be issued to each applicant upon payment of the permit fee. (H) The sticker issued for the permit shall be placed near the upper left corner of the front windshield. (3) The ferry captain or ferry operations manager may, at his or her sole discretion, allow a vehicle priority over all other vehicles for humanitarian purposes. Scheduled routine doctor's office visits are not considered to be sufficient reason for granting priority boarding for humanitarian purposes. (b) Vehicles that do not qualify for priority boarding under subsection (a) of this section shall be boarded in order of arrival after priority boarding is completed. |
