New travel document requirement may shut down local ferries

November 30th, 2005 - KONP News

(Port Angeles) -- Ferry operators who serve Vancouver Island say a new travel document requirements could severely impact or even drive them out of business. Victoria Express owner Jack Harmon told the Port Angeles Business Association the proposed Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, would require a travel document for any US citizen visiting Canada or Mexico. The measure has already passed into law and according to Harmon, there is no clear-cut definition of what a secure travel document is. Harmon says some individual states may be reluctant to be the responsible entity to collect this information, and it will be more complicated than a driver's license. Harmon says no one knows much about the document. Harmon says a document or a passport is not needed to travel to Victoria on any of the ferries right now. For a U-S citizen, a drivers license is all one needs, but Harmon says when the new requirement goes into effect, it will greatly curtail any foreign travel. He urges everyone to write call or e-mail members of congress and express thoughts about the new travel restriction.