The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced two weeks ago that tolls for the PA’s tunnel and bridge crossings, as well as the PATH train passenger fares, will be raised considerably beginning March 25.
With tunnel and bridge tolls expected to climb to $7 one way during rush hour and PATH fares set for $1.50 each way, it leaves New York commuters a bit of a dilemma and searching for an alternative.
For the past 14 years, NY Waterway, with its main ferry terminal located in Weehawken’s Port Imperial, has offered a viable alternative. From its humble beginnings, with just 23 passengers on its first ferry in 1986, NY Waterway services 32,000 commuters each day on 24 ferries and 88 buses. More than half of those begin or end their trips in Weehawken.
According to NY Waterway spokesman Pat Smith, the Port Authority fare hikes have had little effect on what the ferry service plans to do in the future.
“We have reasonable expectations that people will be looking for another alternative to get to and from New York,” Smith said. “And we expect that people will look to New York Waterway. However, even without the fare increases, we feel that we are a much more attractive alternative.”
The fare on the Weehawken ferry is $5 one way and includes bus connections to several locations in Manhattan. The monthly pass, for $150, makes trips much cheaper. Smith said that an average commuter making 44 trips per month would pay an average of $3.40 per trip.
Smith said that NY Waterway, owned and operated by Weehawken resident Arthur Imperatore, had already planned to offer new services and new equipment for its passengers long before the PA announced its toll and fare increases.
“In the spring, we anticipate to have additional passengers because of our new services and additional routes,” Smith said. “We will have new destinations and pick-up points. Negotiations are ongoing to secure these destinations and departure sites.”
However, one new site has already been determined. Beginning next month, passengers can board NY Waterway ferries at 13th Street in Hoboken, which will take them to the West 38th Street terminal in Manhattan. There will not be free connecting bus service from West 38th Street terminal. The monthly fare will be $85.
“A mini-terminal is being built now and we hope to begin service very shortly,” Smith said.
New ferry
Smith said that NY Waterway has also purchased a brand new ferry and it is due to be brought into service, also by sometime next month.
“We also have several others in the design stages,” Smith said. “Since our passenger figures have been going up at the rate of eight to 10 percent each year over the last several years, we have to do something to keep up with the increase in passengers. Right now, we’re moving 32,000 passengers a day each way and that should increase. Traditionally, our numbers increase during the spring and summer and fall off in bad weather.”
Some commuters who take the ferry from Weehawken say that there really is no other way to make the commute to New York.
“It’s the smartest and easiest way,” said Weehawken resident George Ballantyne, who used to bus to Jersey City to take the PATH before discovering NY Waterway three years ago. “What used to take me nearly 90 minutes to get to work in midtown now takes me perhaps 30 minutes at the most. It’s very convenient and very cost effective as well.”
Leslie Jacobs, who drives from Bergen County and parks at the ferry terminal daily to get to her graphic design job in Manhattan, also agreed.
“I used to live in Hoboken, but moved to Bergen County when I got married,” Jacobs said. “I used to take the train, but that was a hassle. The ferry and this terminal is definitely the easiest.”
Weehawken residents can also use the bevy of buses and shuttles that slink through town and head into Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel. NJ Transit has not made an announcement as to whether its bus fares will increase because of the rate hike at the tunnels.