Adrift on the ferry
Who doesn’t enjoy a ride on one of Mayor de Blasio’s ferries — sleek, speedy and a straight shot across river and harbor, for just $2.75 a pop? So woven are the boats into some commutes and pleasure jaunts, it’s hard to believe that in their current incarnation, they’ve only been zipping around for a year, on just four out of the six routes planned.
The old saying goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It doesn’t follow that if it’s working at its current size, double it.
But that is exactly what the mayor now plans to do, investing more limited city dollars in a transit option that serves relatively few, and, by all accounts, the relatively well-to-do.
After the ferries logged 3.7 million rides in year one, the city’s Economic Development Corp. announced plans to multiply by two its initial order of 20 boats, expand dock capacity, add more runs and express service between Wall St. and the Rockaways, and add a second port to park off-duty boats.
EDC President James Patchett projects ridership reaching as much as 9 million by 2023, if only the system will grow to accommodate it.
Wait, do we see something approaching the ferry dock in the distance? It’s coming closer . . . oh there it is, the bill. Bill’s bill.
De Blasio’s proposed budget includes $300 million in capital funds for the expansion over five years, touted by de Blasio as “a very important part of our goal of making New York City the fairest big city in America.”
Really? Each ride in EDC’s estimate costs $6.60 in subsidy on top of the $2.75 patrons pay.
Who are the users? The city only says a majority are New York residents, and commuters.
Some routes serve transit-starved waterfront areas where there are plenty of poor and middleclass people; others cater to parts of Williamsburg and Dumbo where the wealthy live in fabulous new high-rises. A glance at Wall St.’s Pier 11 at rush hour suggests most there are well off.
Other boats function as weekend pleasure boats to beaches like the Rockaways, or cruise ships for tourists.
De Blasio cannot with a straight face make the case that doubling down on the city’s bet on ferries, their fares artificially held down, is a better use of limited transportation resources than, say, funding low-income New Yorkers half-priced MetroCards to ride a truly city-saturating transit network.
As a Streetsblog reporter noted, de Blasio has held at least eight ferry-related announcements since the start of last year — but just two events about buses, which serve, oh, 200 times the riders.
A far more direct route to fairness would be Fair Fares for the poor. A more direct route to expanding service would be extension of the current practice of chartering craft to meet seasonal surges in demand.
De Blasio wants to buy lots more boats. “Aye aye, captain” is the wrong response.