More NYC Ferry Boats Will Hit The Water With Funding Boost

NEW YORK, NY — New York City will spend $300 million more on the NYC Ferry service to grow its fleet and accommodate booming ridership, officials announced Thursday. The extra capital funding over the next five years will pay for new 350-passenger boats, fixes to piers and docks and a second maintenance port, Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said.

The move adds to the city's initial funding commitment for the nascent ferry service, which has proven popular since its launch a year ago. It carried 3.7 million passengers in its first year and could serve up to 9 million annually by 2023, about twice as many as expected, officials said.

"New Yorkers have spoken. We’re going to need bigger boats," de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a statement. "We’re gearing up to meet the extraordinary demand for more public transit on our waterways."

The NYC Ferry launched in May 2017 as an effort to improve transportation options in hard-to-reach neighborhoods such as the Rockaways. A trip costs the same as a subway ride — $2.75 — thanks to city subsidies to the tune of $6.60 per rider, officials said.

The service was expected to cost the city at least $325 million by 2023, The New York Times reported last year. The extra $300 million investment — including $35 million in the coming 2019 fiscal year — will pay for additional boats and infrastructure upgrades necessary to accommodate the growing ridership, officials said.

Four routes serving the Rockaways, Astoria, South Brooklyn and areas along the East River are currently operational. The two remaining planned routes serving the Lower East Side and Soundview in the Bronx will start running in the late summer, and the city's Economic Development Corporation, which oversees the service, will study potential expansions later this year, officials said.

NYC Ferry is preparing for a busy commuting season. The city plans to have three new 350-passenger boats and up to eight charter boats running this summer, with additional service to Governors Island and Brooklyn Army Terminal.

Boats will arrive every 20 to 30 minutes along all four routes and an express service will run between Wall Street and the Rockaways during rush hour and on weekends, officials said.

While the ferry service has exceeded expectations, its ridership still pales in comparison to some New York City bus routes. The B46 in Brooklyn, for example, carried more than 14 million commuters in 2016, according to MTA figures.

(Lead image: An NYC Ferry boat arrives at Brooklyn Bridge Park in April 2017. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)