A new Citywide Ferry Service connection to New York City’s distant Rockaway peninsula will incorporate shuttle buses — an early step toward integrating the public ferries with surface transport.
Tucked in the easternmost corner of Queens, the Rockaways have long been starved for better commuting options than rail connections that are an ordeal for residents who work in Manhattan. It will be the most distant ride on the new public ferry system starting in mid-2017, connecting to Wall Street and the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
But an original bus shuttle plan would have stopped short of the peninsula’s eastern neighborhoods. A year of discussions involving ferry planners, city officials and the local community board ensued, and the city Economic Development Corporation formally announced the details Thursday.
The extended shuttle will serve both ends of the peninsula and enable more residents and beach visitors to use the ferry, said Cameron Clark, senior vice president of Hornblower New York and project manager for the Citywide Ferry, to be operated by subsidiary HNY Ferry Fleet LLC.
City Council member Donovan Richards said the shuttle will let more of his Far Rockaway constituents get to ferry, and “help alleviate the crowded A train and improve transportation access for the majority of peninsula residents.”
A map of routes for New York's Citywide Ferry Service. NYC Economic Development Corp.
With one-way fares of $2.75 the Citywide Ferry is at the same price point as New York subways. A century before, some Brooklyn commuters used trolleys to get to and from landings, and transit experts suggest the new ferry service can in time be similarly integrated with buses.
The privately operated NY Waterway ferry service across the Hudson River already does it, operating its own system of buses and passenger transfers at its midtown Manhattan and Weehawken, N.J., terminals.
The first 149-passenger catamarans for Citywide Ferry are under construction by Metal Shark, Jeanerette, La., and Horizon Shipbuilding Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala.. The 85’4”x26’3” Incat Crowther-designed vessels are the first in a fleet of 19. Hornblower, city officials and shipbuilders are planning a Nov. 16 media event at Horizon's yard to show progress on the boats.
