Passenger Trains > PATH nudges troubled NY Waterway into history

The end of the line could be very near for the NY Waterway ferries (see http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1102660321272400.xml ). Apparently the resurrection of PATH to Lower Manhattan played a small role. But if the ferries shut down, will there be enough room on the trains for displaced commuters? Would any local experts like to comment on the situation?

Ferries are an attractive concept, and the ferry revival began nationwide in the 1980s as a way of quickly adding capacity in New York, San Francisco, and other cities where ferries run by rail companies had typically ceased operating in the 1960s and 1970s.

But ferries, while quick to put into service, are very expensive to operate. They're also unreliable in places like NY and Boston, where harbors can freeze over. Sal Imperatore's NY Waterways was created in large part to make his developments on the New Jersey waterfront more marketable.

As to whether PATH, buses, and highways can handle the 32,000 NY Waterways riders, consider that PATH has about 250,000 daily riders (at least last time I checked) and NJT carries around 110,000 per day. NYC Transit carries 4.5 million people per day. So NY Waterways is not a big player in the NY transit market.

rresor Wrote:
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> But ferries, while quick to put into service, are
> very expensive to operate. They're also
> unreliable in places like NY and Boston, where
> harbors can freeze over. S

When was the last time that New York harbor freezed over?

>
> As to whether PATH, buses, and highways can handle
> the 32,000 NY Waterways riders, consider that PATH
> has about 250,000 daily riders (at least last time
> I checked) and NJT carries around 110,000 per day.
> NYC Transit carries 4.5 million people per day.
> So NY Waterways is not a big player in the NY
> transit market.

It's not fair to include NYCT in the picture, as it focuses on transportation within the city of New York. If just compared to companies that provide service into NY from NJ, then NY Waterway has about 8% of the public transportation market.

ChS7-321 Wrote:
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> When was the last time that New York harbor
> freezed over?

The boats got marrooned last winter, read the article.

JohnThomas Wrote:
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> ChS7-321 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When was the last time that New York harbor
> > freezed over?
>
> The boats got marrooned last winter, read the
> article.


Sorry, forgot about that one. no, I didn't know beforehand that they got marooned, but the Schuyllkill River in Philly froze over (something that I only saw for the first time in 14 years of living here)

P.S. I also need to better learn my past tenses.... what is "freezed"?? :))))))

If NYW goes under, expect NJT to open the currently mothballed Port Imperial Light Rail station, which is adjacent to the ferry company's huge parking lot.

The station has not opened for revenue service, although the LRT use it to reverse ends and return south to the first open station, Lincoln Harbor. The plan had been to open the LRT station when the under-construction new ferry terminal opens in 2005. Nobody will let 6,000 parking spaces go unused in that neighborhood.