In the News: Cost to Operate S.I. Ferries Soared Over the Last 5 Years

The City's Independent Budget Office reported earlier this month that costs to operate the Staten Island Ferry doubled from $40 to $84 million between 2002 and 2007, adding fuel to the debate on water-based transporation in the region. For the most part, the increases were attributed to security upgrades (post 9/11 and 2003 crash). However, ridership did increase over 10% during the same time period to 20 million riders annually, indicating that demand is still very much high for this energy efficient and environmentally friendly form of transportation...JB

Image: State Island Ferry with in New York Harbor from Wikipedia

By Sewell Chan
Published March 7, 2007

New York City’s operating costs for the Staten Island ferry system have more than doubled in five years, largely because of reforms instituted after a deadly October 2003 crash, according to a report released yesterday.

The increase, to $83.8 million this year from $40.2 million in 2002, is most likely to be enduring, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office, which issued the report. It found that safety and security expenses were the greatest cause of the increase.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/nyregion/07ferry.html

NYC's Independent Budget Office Memo on Rising Ferry Costs
http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/newsfax/insidethebudget149.pdf

NYC Department of Transporation SI Fery Page
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/masstran/ferries/statfery.html

Wikipedia on the SI Ferry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island_Ferry

Google Map with SI Ferry Route Highlighted
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=12&ll=40.678165,-74.037209&spn=0.113522,0.284271&t=h&om=1