Dear Editor:
Donald Trump once said that if you’re going to think at all, you might as well think big. Well here’s a big idea for Hoboken, which currently suffers from a public transportation crisis. Yes crisis. Think I’m exaggerating? Then obviously you haven’t seen, or been part of the crowd of frustrated morning commuters—on lines that often stretch down the block—watching in helpless frustration as bus after full-to-capacity bus passes you by. Or maybe you caught a Sunday afternoon movie or play in the city, and suddenly your lovely day is ruined: stuck in a line from hell at the Port Authority Terminal. What else is new, the Lincoln Tunnel is jam-packed again.
If this public transportation misery keeps up, Hoboken’s fabled image as a model commuter town will begin to wear thin. More than once, while mired in a tunnel traffic nightmare, I felt my loyalty to Jersey waning as my mind wandered to the easy-commute luxury of living in certain parts of Brooklyn or Queens. Simply hop the L, F, or 7 and whooooosh, like magic you’re in the city.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. One reason the ferries aren’t as effective as they could be is because of their exorbitant price. (The high end is up to $ 8.50 for a one-way trip from the Hoboken North dock!) Plus, there just aren’t enough of them. What we ought to have is a Dunkirk-like flotilla of free ferries (just like they do in some European countries, like Amsterdam) to handle the bulk of daily travel back-and-forth across the Hudson. Why should a “civilized commute,” one of New York Waterway’s slogans, be restricted to the lucky few who can afford its ridiculously high price?
Aside from immeasurably improving the quality of life of Hoboken residents who frequent the city, this solution also offers a clear environmental advantage. In fact, new “green friendly” ferries might even be designed (Stevens Tech engineers, are you reading this?) to harness solar and wind and water power for the creation of clean energy, alone or combined with traditional fuel in a hybrid engine. Just imagine the atmosphere (and our lungs) breathing a huge sigh of relief when they retire dozens of fume-spewing busses, and cleaner energy ferries take up the lion’s share of the Hoboken/New York commute. Like they did, if fact, 75 years ago.
If you’re still unconvinced, and think free ferries for Hoboken is a wildly impractical, pie-in-the-sky, or even socialistic idea, here’s a simple haiku that might change your mind: “The Staten Island Ferry is still blessedly free, if New York can do it, so can we.”
Attention all Hoboken politicians looking for a no-brainer Big Idea to instantly make life easier and cleaner and happier for residents of our mile square city: Repeat after me, free ferry service to Manhattan! If you’d like to help get the ball rolling on this, please e-mail me, and I’ll send a petition to the powers-that-be.jfbredin@hotmail.com.
Thank you for your time.
John Bredin