Ferry to Lynn?

Man. Your state rep is head of the transpo committee and you can't even get that sweet sweet ferry money. What a sad state of affairs.

I actually took the ferry a few times last summer when I had work up in Lynn in the PM. It was nice as hell to cruise out past Nahant, down through the Harbor Islands, and through the harbor into town with a beer. Probably not nice enough to justify the $$$ the state was spending though.
 
underground said:
Man. Your state rep is head of the transpo committee and you can't even get that sweet sweet ferry money. What a sad state of affairs.

I actually took the ferry a few times last summer when I had work up in Lynn in the PM. It was nice as hell to cruise out past Nahant, down through the Harbor Islands, and through the harbor into town with a beer. Probably not nice enough to justify the $$$ the state was spending though.
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Lynn got some money to rehab the dock and parking area for the ferry, so it already provided a longer term benefit in terms of sprucing up that area. Longer term I think if Lynn can pull together a continuous harbor walk along the full length of the harbor then they could help spur development in between the two large mixed use/mostly residential projects planned for either end of that long stretch of waterfront.

Maybe tax money from those projects could eventually (3 or 4 years) help them bootstrap that further redevelopment.

The Lynn ferry was just a piece of the waterfront puzzle and has probably already served its purpose outside of ferrying a relatively small number of people back and forth between Lynn and Boston.

Maybe a whale watch and/or other non-commuter ferry operations could use the terminal and parking facilities in the absence of or in addition to the commuter ferry.
 
tangent said:
Lynn got some money to rehab the dock and parking area for the ferry, so it already provided a longer term benefit in terms of sprucing up that area. Longer term I think if Lynn can pull together a continuous harbor walk along the full length of the harbor then they could help spur development in between the two large mixed use/mostly residential projects planned for either end of that long stretch of waterfront.

Maybe tax money from those projects could eventually (3 or 4 years) help them bootstrap that further redevelopment.

The Lynn ferry was just a piece of the waterfront puzzle and has probably already served its purpose outside of ferrying a relatively small number of people back and forth between Lynn and Boston.

Maybe a whale watch and/or other non-commuter ferry operations could use the terminal and parking facilities in the absence of or in addition to the commuter ferry.
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Tangent -- the problem of any North Shore ferry to Boston is one of geography -- you have to sail south and east before you can sail north and west

Thus to make a viable ferry you need three things -=- 1) a fast ferry 2) a long enough distance north to make the going south insignificant, 3) a two-way-busy destination pair -- Salem Yes -- Lynn No until there is some reason for someone in Boston to go to Lynn
 
Lynn Harbor is in no shape to take a ferry worth its salt until it gets a thorough dredging. It is so choked with silt runoff from Rumney Marsh that the navigation channel is narrow, circuitous, and hugs the shore. Not conducive to a fast shot since it requires that close and slowish pass along the west shore of Nahant, and inability to hit open water makes it impossible to run anything during peak ice season. Plus insurance rates can't be all that great given the elevated risk of running aground at low tide. It's an environmental disaster area from a century of nonexistent erosion control, and until they pay to dredge it (which they aren't going to do with so little commerce at stake) it's not going to be a viable harbor for anything larger than pleasure boats or a barge.

None of the other North Shore harbors have this problem, so Lynn is uniquely disadvantaged. But the ferry operators knew damn well what the challenges were, so the end result can't be all that surprising. What the harbor leaves them for navigable channels is too lousy to run the kind of schedule a ferry would have to keep to attain viability. This was doomed from the start.
 
When I was riding last summer, the ferry was the same type they use for Hingham, Salem, and whale watching. The boat actually still had whale watch info-graphics up (DID YOU KNOW A WHALE EATS A GAZILLION KRILL A DAY!!!), so they probably just moved it from the whale watch fleet. Door to door time compared to the commuter rail was about the same, but with the bonus of food/beer/ocean view. Then again, the CR station is in the middle of downtown, and the ferry dock is... not. The ferry is still problematic though, but I think it has more to do with cost of operation per rider as compared to the CR and bus than it does with the ferry/harbor themselves.
 
underground said:
When I was riding last summer, the ferry was the same type they use for Hingham, Salem, and whale watching. The boat actually still had whale watch info-graphics up (DID YOU KNOW A WHALE EATS A GAZILLION KRILL A DAY!!!), so they probably just moved it from the whale watch fleet. Door to door time compared to the commuter rail was about the same, but with the bonus of food/beer/ocean view. Then again, the CR station is in the middle of downtown, and the ferry dock is... not. The ferry is still problematic though, but I think it has more to do with cost of operation per rider as compared to the CR and bus than it does with the ferry/harbor themselves.
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Never tried it myself, but I did see it running and it was running at a relatively high speed out of Lynn harbor, so yes the harbor probably needs dredging for maintenance as all harbors do periodically, but no it didn't limit the ferry in any perceivable way.

Yes, looking at the commute time it appeared that it was the same as commuter rail lynn stop to North Station or the best comparison is driving/bus to Wonderland for the blue line to take it into Aquarium station since the ferry was going to central wharf/aquarium where you could then transfer to the Blue Line. The timing and logistics are competitive and of course the fair weather trip is nicer than being in a tunnel. I think a good number of people were taking the ferry as an alternative.

It really does (or should) just come down to operating cost versus subsidies per rider. I can't seem to find the document, but last time I checked the overall ferry subsidies per rider didn't seem too high compared with the other modes. But that didn't break it down to just the Lynn ferry.

Overall, for every MBTA line, it would be good to see a breakdown of ridership and subsidies with finer detail. It doesn't mean you cut every line and time with the highest subsidies, but it should be part of the discussion.
 
But wait, there's more! There may be no money for operations, but there is $4.5 M in federal funding to buy a new ferry for year-round service to Lynn.

Lynn is still seeking $650,000 to run the existing service this season.
 
Scipio said:
But wait, there's more! There may be no money for operations, but there is $4.5 M in federal funding to buy a new ferry for year-round service to Lynn.

Lynn is still seeking $650,000 to run the existing service this season.
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Interesting. Good news.

Would be good to see the service become more than just a commuter ferry. In the Summer and weekends it would be good to schedule it so it could tie into tourism schedules. Perhaps, cheaper parking for North Shore residents to take the ferry in for either a day in Boston or marketed as a connection with the ferry to Provincetown. Become another anchor for Waterfront development.
 
tangent said:
Interesting. Good news.

Would be good to see the service become more than just a commuter ferry. In the Summer and weekends it would be good to schedule it so it could tie into tourism schedules. Perhaps, cheaper parking for North Shore residents to take the ferry in for either a day in Boston or marketed as a connection with the ferry to Provincetown. Become another anchor for Waterfront development.
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Transit policy by turf, Lynn Ferry is cancelled because it didn't fit on the same spreadsheet as all the other subsidized ferry services: http://www.itemlive.com/news/state-throws-cold-water-on-ferry-commuters/
 
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