I wanted to let you know that while I enjoy your magazine, I took offense to the tone of your blurb New York’s Turn to Cope With Ferry Environmentalists.

The wording of the paragraph seemed to say, "Don’t bother with worrying about the environment, or paying attention to those who worry about it for us. We don’t care about the Bay that supplies us with the very waterway on which we travel. Ferry travel would be just as fine as it is now, even if the Bay was completely polluted, brown, and stinking."

Now, I’m sure you don’t think that way, down deep in your heart, right?

So why don’t you correct yourself, or, in your next issue, show a little care for the environment. I believe in ferry service because I believe it actually helps the environment, takes people out of cars. To attack environmentalists is clearly the wrong approach. To work with them, in an alliance, is wiser.

A lot of enviro-friendly people will be riding ferries in years to come, especially in the liberal Bay Area. You risk alienating these people with the strong wording you used above.

Thanks,

Jim Jenkins

We are not attempting to banish water skis. I happen to like water skiing and can’t see any reason to ban them. I’m sure you meant to say jet skis!

Russell Long, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Bluewater Network

I love to receive Bay Crossings. Since I promoted the Flea Market on Treasure Island, I saw the light about the ferries and would do anything to help promote and further the cause.

Thanks very much and keep the good news coming.

Mary Millman

San Francisco

Congratulations on keeping Bay Crossings alive and functioning for these three years. I know it has been difficult. My son Mark was senior editor at the Industry Standard and now he has a similar position at Wired.

Just keep your eye on the task ahead and keep up the good work.

Russ Robinson

Though I now live in Santa Cruz and no longer ride the Golden Gate or Vallejo ferries, I still enjoy picking up a copy of Bay Crossings when I visit San Francisco. Congratulations on an exciting publication!

I lived car-free for years in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Pleasanton. Getting anywhere required the services of two or three transit agencies. There was always another fare to pay, another pass to buy. Unfortunately, the inconsistencies will remain even after millions are spent to retrofit every bus, every light rail vehicle, every train station, and every ferry with complicated smart card technology.

Bay Crossings has had some recent coverage of TransLink, the universal fare system currently being tested by GGT and others. I’d like to inform Bay Crossings about the TransLink’s shortcomings, and about a simple alternative that is already available in the Los Angeles region.

l 30 years after the MTC was founded and 7 years after the original TransLink I experiment failed, the Bay Area still lacks a universal transit pass.

l TransLink II averaged fewer than 1,000 fare payment transactions per weekday during the recent six-month pilot. Over 1.7 million transit trips were made in the Bay Area on an average weekday. Despite the small scope (less than 0.1%) of the pilot, MTC has declared TransLink II a success and is poised to retrofit over 3,600 buses, streetcars, ferries, and train stations with smart card readers.

l The Bay Area’s closest approximation to a regional transit pass, the BART Plus Ticket, is neither regional nor a pass.

l LA has a cheap, widely-accepted, and low-tech regional pass.

I hope that this background information will be useful to you, should Bay Crossings decide to cover TransLink in greater depth.

All the best,

Mr. R. Paul Marcelin-Sampson,

Transit Rider

During a visit to my daughter in Brooklyn recently, I took one of my favorite walks: along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It was a fine, clear Fall day and from the Promenade, I had a clear view of Manhattan; the south tower of the venerable Brooklyn Bridge loomed over me. Looking down on the water, I was surprised to see a bright yellow launch moving fast across the East River toward the southern tip of the island. Was this one of the new "water taxis" I had read about in The New Yorker?

Descending the cobblestone streets to investigate, I arrived at a small, newly constructed wooden landing; the yellow boat was coming toward us.

Soon after September 11, 2001, many large ferries were pressed into service to ease commuters’ problems resulting from the closing of subway stations under the World Trade Center. Though subway service is pretty much back to normal now, these new water taxis, with seats for about 30 people, are preferred by some commuters. (Fares are relatively expensive: $4 compared to a subway ride of $1.50.) In addition, tourists who want to travel between Brooklyn and several stops on Manhattan find it a comfortable and pleasant ride.

During my short wait on the landing, I learned some history about this part of Brooklyn. A plaque informed me that this landing was the site of the Fulton Ferry Station which, in 1868, carried 1,000 persons daily to lower Manhattan (the fare was 4 cents per trip). An inscription on the railing of the landing is of interest to poetry enthusiasts: it is an excerpt from a poem by Walt Whitman, at different times editor of two Brooklyn newspapers.

"Drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me!

Cross from shore to shore countless crowds of passengers!

Stand up, tall masts of Manhattan!

Stand up, beautiful hills of Brooklyn!

Throb, baffled and curious brain!

Throw out questions and answers!"

Just as my brain was throbbing slightly from pondering the cryptic last two lines, the boat tied up and I walked down the ramp and boarded for the 5-minute ride to the first stop, Wall Street (Pier 11). After that it makes four stops on the west side of Manhattan (Battery Park City, North Financial Center, and West 22nd Street/Chelsea Piers). I had heard about a new walking/biking path which extends from Battery Park City all the way to Midtown Manhattan and considered exploring it. However, I decided instead to return to Brooklyn on foot.

I wandered back along the waterfront through the Fulton Fish Market, passed the South Street Seaport Museum, and ended up at the north end of the Brooklyn Bridge. Walking across is a pleasant stroll because the path is elevated and separates you from the car traffic and its noise.

If you are a lover of ferry boats and waterfronts, I recommend using these new water taxis to spend a half-day exploring Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. The website is www.nywatertaxi.com.