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State looks at new inner-harbor ferry

By adamg on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 10:37am

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports state transportation officials are looking at possible routes for a ferry that would shuttle between the downtown/North End side of the Harbor, the South Boston Waterfront and the East Boston/Charlestown side of the briny shallow. The exact routes and stops are still under study.

Neighborhoods: 
Charlestown
East Boston
North End
Topics: 
The T
Free tagging: 
ferries
Boston Harbor
Seaport


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Comments

By Lee on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 10:48am.

... it will be a good thing.

By ChrisInEastie on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 11:12am.

Charlie Card passes actually usable (until the new system is in place, of course).

By anon on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 12:53pm.

Give away stuff for free and people will like it.

By Kaz on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 2:12pm.

It's not free. We all had to pay like $0.00001 for it in our taxes this year.

By East Boston resident on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 1:49pm.

Let’s be clear, a lot of people who live in Eastie are on fixed incomes, let’s hope that the fares on these ferries are affordable to all residents , Not everyone in Eastie come from wealthy backgrounds (Here son , here’s $900k go buy yourself a luxurious condo on the waterfront, I forgot, here’s an extra $50k for your annual ferry fare)

By ChrisInEastie on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 5:08pm.

is like $3.50 each way, and accepts 7 day passes (though inexplicably, not monthly or daily).

By whyaduck on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 8:03am.

We have no idea, at this point, what will be this ferries fare if the plan comes to reality.

By ChrisInEastie on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 9:27am.

but I think it's a pretty fair point of reference.

By anon on Mon, 12/18/2017 - 5:40pm.

The ferry accepts monthly passes, as long as they're printed on a CharlieTicket.

By ChrisInEastie on Wed, 12/20/2017 - 10:42am.

sums up the inefficiency of the MBTA in one sentence. How many people get monthly passes on a paper ticket vs refilling their Charlie Card? And before anyone takes commuter rail passes into account, tell me how many would be using local ferries on a regular basis?

By blues_lead on Wed, 12/20/2017 - 12:55pm.

AFC 2.0 means all fare media will be accepted on all modes.

By anon on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 11:00am.

Install floating bike lanes?

By SwirlyGrrl on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 11:21pm.

That would be fun during high wind/storm conditions - extreme riding!

What would happen when someone tried to drive on it , though?

By Matt on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 12:20pm.

within the City, should be included in the link pass.

By anon on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 1:26pm.

Capital investment cost money and if the ferry is included in the link pass, guess what. We'd simply be robbing Peter to pay Paul.

By blues_lead on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 4:54pm.

and operational budgets have different sources. Our fares go to the operational budgets. Integrated transit payment works better for users, meaning more people use it than would otherwise, and revenues from ridership go up.

By mmurph on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 12:22pm.

This idea seems to get tossed around every 18 months or so and goes no where.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/07/06/another-try-for-ferry-se...

Any ferry services would have to run continuous during rush hour, be affordable, and enclosed to protect from the elements.

Personally I think it's a great idea with the exception of the Airport. There is always ferry / water taxi service there and it's really not that much more convenient to then have to take a shuttle bus to the terminal. The focus of any new service should be connecting existing, but disconnected transport hubs (North Station, Maverick, WTC/Fan Pier)

By anon on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 1:16pm.

Anything that keeps commuters out of Park Street and Government Stations is a beautiful thing.

We spend lots of time thinking about what new route would get the most total commuters. The flip side, though, is that a route that removes commuters from what are now the most congested routes is extremely valuable, even if it doesn't in itself serve the largest numbers.

By Div2Supt on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 1:29pm.

How about the MBTA just revives its former ferry Route F5? It connected North Station [Lovejoy Wharf] to Rowes Wharf, Fan Pier and the WTC. Some trips were scheduled to run via the Navy Yard. Until no more trips were scheduled at all in 2005. As an inner harbor ferry, charge the Charlestown Ferry fare and accept Zone 1A and weekly/monthly Link passes.

I'll take my consultant's fee in small unmarked bills, please.

By John-W on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 2:09pm.

...is it ok if they're stained with red ink?

By karenz on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 10:44pm.

Water taxis already travel these routes - why make a ferry? If it actually stopped somewhere new, say UMass Boston, this would be useful to residents!

By Lee on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 9:25am.

... an arm and a leg.
A stop at Umass is on the proposed route.

By karenz on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 2:01pm.

This map does not show UMass Boston as a stop:
https://northendwaterfront.com/2017/12/inner-harbor-ferry-circulator-con...

The current water taxi costs $10 + tip.

By Waquiot on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 3:36pm.

Ain't cheap.

By Lee on Fri, 12/15/2017 - 11:19am.

Fallon Pier on Columbia Point in Dorchester.

This is from the linked article.