NYC Ferries Costs Taxpayers More Than In Most Cities: Analysis

NEW YORK — New York City's municipal ferries are soaking in more taxpayer money than almost every other comparable system in America, a fact that should have officials rethinking the network's financing, a new analysis says.

"The high cost of NYC Ferry — both in per-trip subsidy and relative to other public ferry systems — should prompt reconsideration of the operating strategy and pricing model," says the Citizens Budget Commission report published Monday.

The city's $9.34-per-ride subsidy for the NYC Ferry is second-highest among eight of the nation's busiest public ferry services that charge fares, the commission found. Only the New Orleans Ferry had a higher rate of $9.88 per trip in 2017, the report says.

The city also gets the one of the nation's worst returns on investment from those public funds, according to the commission.

The NYC Ferry's $16.6 million operating revenues in the 2019 fiscal year represented only 24 percent of the system's operating expenses, ranking just above New Orleans's rate of 14 percent, the report shows.

The other six fare-based systems the commission analyzed had so-called recovery ratios higher than 60 percent in 2017, including two ferry networks in Massachusetts that had operating surpluses that year, the commission says. (The Staten Island Ferry was also on the list, but it is free and therefore has a recovery rate of 0 percent.)

The New York and New Orleans ferries both have cheap, flat fares while other big-city systems charge more, according to the commission.

"NYC Ferry’s flat $2.75 fare is a primary driver of its comparatively high subsidy," the fiscal watchdog group said in its report. "On most public ferry systems, fares vary by route and are more in line with their operating costs."

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has kept the ferry fare the same price as a subway ride in an effort to make the service affordable to riders of all income levels. But statistics released last week showed that the boats' riders are largely well-off, with an annual median income between $75,000 and $99,999.

In response to the Citizens Budget Commission analysis, City Hall argued that it takes time and money to build a brand-new public transportation network while also working to improve the city's subway and bus systems.

The ferry's per-ride subsidy fell 13 percent in the 2019 fiscal year and will continue to drop after new routes to Staten Island and Coney Island launch in 202`0 and 2021, city officials say.

"The NYC Ferry is overwhelmingly popular with riders, a testament to the need it fills," de Blasio spokesperson Seth Stein said in a statement. "We are delivering on-time, reliable service when it’s desperately needed. Like any brand-new transportation system it required an up-front investment and popular routes in order to expand to more underserved areas."