Why can’t we run commuter ferries on
Long Island Sound?
I can’t tell you how often I’ve been
asked that question. But as with so many
“simple solutions” to our transportation woes, there are logical reasons why ferry
boats won’t work.
First off, they are too slow. Even “fast ferries” can only make about 30
knots (35 mph) in open waters, half the (potential) speed of a train. And
to dock at downtown areas in major cities like New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk
and Stamford, they’d have to sail up rivers and inlets with 5 knot speed
limits. That really slows down the ride.
If we put ferry terminals closer to
the Sound we’d be eating into the most expensive water-view real estate we
have. And how would you get there? By car, parking where? By
shuttle bus, taking how long?
We’d need dozens of ferries to compete
with Metro-North’s fleet. At rush hour on the railroad there’s a train
every 20 minutes to Grand Central. There
isn’t a ferry service in the US that can offer that frequency. Would you
be willing to wait an hour if you miss the boat?
On a beautiful day a ferry ride to
work sounds like fun. But how about in a winter storm? You’d be
back on the dependable ol’ train in a heartbeat.
Even the few operators who’ve
considered launching ferry service in Connecticut say it would come with fares
at least twice those of Metro-North. Aren’t people complaining already
about the trains being too expensive?
Fast ferry boats are gas guzzlers, the
aquatic equivalent to the Concorde. Even when the Pequots built
high-speed catamarans to ferry gamblers to their casino to lose money, it cost
them a fortune. Those ferries are still dry-docked, too expensive to
operate.
When a private ferry operator offered
service from Glen Cove, Long Island to midtown, it lasted only a few
months. Same thing when ferry service was offered on the Hudson River
from Yonkers. Why? Because both routes paralleled existing train
service and the ferries couldn’t compete. Neither would it work here in
Connecticut where Metro-North operates.
Mind you, there are places that
ferries do work, especially where they go from point A to point B when you
can’t do that on land. Like the Bridgeport – Port Jefferson or New London
to Orient Point (LI) cross-Sound ferries. Or consider Seattle, where
ferries connect downtown with island suburbs.
A ferry from Connecticut to LaGuardia
Airport might make sense. But in the late 80’s when Pan Am tried to compete
with Eastern Airlines in the lucrative air-shuttle market, they introduced
the Pan Am Water Shuttle connecting LaGuardia to
midtown. I rode it once, on a bright summer’s day, and it was
sweet. But even funneling passengers to its own planes, Pan Am couldn’t
afford the aquatic connection. And since Amtrak’s Acela came along, who
flies the shuttles anyway?
One final reason why I don’t think
ferries would work: nobody else does so either.
I’m sure that ferry operators in NYC have
looked at Connecticut’s gold coast, crunched the numbers and backed away.
It’s a free market, folks. If ferries made sense (and dollars), they’d be
running here by now. But they aren’t, and probably won’t be, for the
common sense reasons I have cited.