SI Live reports: A complete overhaul of the ferry system’s official code of conduct – which will go into effect in late January – includes updates reflecting tightened security and operational changes, as well as new prohibitions against feeding animals, or fishing from a ferry or ferry dock.

The regulations governing noise and disorderly conduct also were expanded, to help police enforce rules to keep passengers safe, and sane.

The new rules define “unreasonable noise,” as any “excessive or unusually loud sound that disturbs the peace, comfort or repose of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, injures or endangers the health or safety of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or which causes injury to plant or animal life, or damage to property or business.”

Among the examples included of prohibited noise levels are music coming from a person’s iPod earbuds that is “plainly audible” to another individual standing 5 feet or more away. Also forbidden are sounds that register more than 7 decibels overnight, or 10 decibels during the day that can be heard above ambient sound at a distance of 15 or more feet.

The changes will help police prevent disruptions or disturbances from passengers with blasting music, and ferry preachers who shout messages while commuters are trying to read their papers or catch a catnap on the way to work.

As for the quirkier rules, as far as anyone at DOT can remember, no one has actually been caught fishing from a ferryboat, but the rule was added to forestall anyone from trying. In addition to fears that an unsuspecting passenger could accidentally end up snared at the end of an angler’s hook, fishing line and boat propellers don’t mix.

And fish aren’t the only creatures subject to regulation: “No person shall feed any animal, including unconfined squirrels and birds, within the terminals or on any ferry.”

Tightened security and other operational changes in the past few years meant some of the old regulations were obsolete, and others needed to be created or updated, as part of an effort to enhance safety, smooth operation and safe passage of the ferry and its passengers.

The entire section governing motor vehicles on the car-carrying ferries was deleted, and replaced with a new rule forbidding cars without express permission from the chief operating officer, after post-9/11 security concerns ended car service indefinitely.

Another rule clarifies that musicians and shoe-shiners, among others, must obtain a permit or authorization from DOT before entertaining or soliciting business. People wishing to distribute leaflets or advertisements also must seek permission first.

Many rules have stayed the same.

Bathing is, and always has been, prohibited, as is showering, shaving, laundering or changing clothes or remaining undressed in any public restroom, sink, washroom, or any other area of the boats or terminals.

Thankfully, the rules still forbid “noxious conduct,” and the “creation of obnoxious odors.”

The DOT hosted a public hearing on the proposed changes yesterday in a St. George terminal conference room, but no one attended or submitted written comments.

For a full list of the proposed rules, click HERE.

(Source: SI Live)