By Lloyd McHarg

New York City Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York Governor, George E. Pataki and Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey have announced trans-Hudson ferry service between Manhattan and New Jersey will be expand as of March 25th. The increase in the service is a direct result of increased demand from the loss of PATH service in the downtown area since 9/11.
Area politicians are hailing the increase as harbinger of good things to come in New York ferry travel.

“For the first time in modern memory, you can get from New Jersey to New York with enormous frequency,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, according to The New York Times.

Weehawkin-based, New York Waterway, the largest private ferry operator in the country, will run the added service that could serve about 63,000 passengers a day. At present with their other New Jersey to Manhattan ferry services, New York Waterway is transporting over 60,000 passengers at peak capacity as a result of the transportation nightmare caused by 9/11.

According to the Times, Governor Pataki said that the extra ferries would run until PATH service was restored to Lower Manhattan, scheduled for late in 2003.

The service will transport commuters between the World Financial Center on the Hudson River and Pier 11 at the foot of Wall Street on the East River. The new initiative will also provide more frequent service from the Hoboken Rail Terminal to the World Financial Center, and a new route between the Hoboken Rail Terminal and Pier 11.

Though most ferry service in New York City is not subsidized, save for the free Staten Island Ferry, the new services will be subsidized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Both routes from Hoboken will cost $3 each way or $80 monthly, are to operate every 6 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours and every 20 minutes during off-peak periods Monday through Friday and between 10 a.m. and 9:50 p.m. on weekends. The free shuttle service is to operate every 15 to 20 minutes seven days a week.

According to the Times, Daniel Doctoroff, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, said cost of the new service is an estimated $2 million a month. To keep the cost of the trip to $3.00, service costs will be covered by the fare plus the FEMA subsidies. The Bloomberg administration said that the new routes were just the start of a much larger plan to expand ferry service throughout the New York City region.

Most likely because the new plan does not include increases in service to any of the other New York City Boroughs or other New York City towns, according to the Times, some City Council members were muted in their response to the announcement.