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City to test waters for ferry service
By Steve Urbon
Standard-Times senior correspondent
 NEW
BEDFORD — Twice-a-day ferry service between State Pier
and Woods Hole starts Monday, a four-month trial run for
a possible permanent relinking of the two ports after
more than four decades.
"The market is not yet determined," said Kristen Decas,
executive director of the New Bedford Harbor Development
Commission. "This is part pilot, part assessment."
Everyone involved, however, points out that the marine
sciences labs and schools in the two ports are the
primary target of the service, to eliminate the tedious
drive across the Cape Cod Canal and around Buzzards Bay.
The HDC, Office of Economic Development and New Bedford
Fast Ferry will try to learn who might use this route,
who might benefit from it, how often it would run, and
how much it should cost, she said.
The experiment is being financed by a $75,000 grant from
the state's Executive Office of Transportation, which is
being matched with $25,000 of local money.
New England Fast Ferry, which operates between New
Bedford and Martha's Vineyard, was the sole bidder, Ms.
Decas said. The Steamship Authority didn't respond, nor
did others. "We tried to engage the Salem fast ferry and
Boston Harbor Tours, but they didn't bite," she said.
Starting Monday, at no charge for the first two weeks,
the Woods Hole ferry will leave State Pier at 8:15 a.m.
and arrive in Woods Hole at 8:45 a.m. The return trip
leaves at 8:55 a.m. and arrives back in the city at 9:25
a.m.
In the evening, the ferry will leave for Woods Hole at 7
p.m., and begin the return trip at 7:40 p.m. for an 8:10
p.m. arrival. From mid-September to mid-December, the
morning trips will be 15 minutes earlier, and the
evening trips two hours earlier, according to the
preliminary schedule.
After the two-week free period, the ferry will cost $5
each way, said Economic Development Director Matthew
Morrissey.
Each trip will be accompanied by a survey team, which
will collect information from passengers about their
interest in the ferry and their particular needs, Ms.
Decas said. Meanwhile, the HDC will advertise the ferry
service heavily at UMass and elsewhere there might be
interest.
That's especially true of the School of Marine Sciences
and Technology, which has many connections with the
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's
labs in Woods Hole.
Dr. Steven Cadrin, director of the Cooperative Marine
Education Research Program at UMass, said the ferry
ought to be ideal for that effort.
The ferry would be especially helpful for UMass students
who live on the Cape, he said.
"Outside of the profession of marine sciences the
interest would be shopping," he said. "There aren't as
many opportunities as here, and I think a day trip would
be attractive" for shoppers.
"We think New Bedford has a significant amount to offer
Falmouth's population," Mr. Morrissey said. That
includes "affordable housing for young scientists and
other related amenities and activities."
There hasn't been regular ferry service from New Bedford
to Woods Hole since the Steamship Authority in 1961
discontinued the route serviced by the much-unloved M/V
Nantucket, a fuel-guzzling, unreliable white elephant
that many believed was put on the New Bedford route to
produce red ink — and a reason to shut down the route
after a decade of legal wrangling.
Contact Steve Urbon at
surbon@s-t.com
August 08, 2007 |
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