Although NY Waterway has said that the 60-day layoff warnings it recently handed out to its workers were just a "legal requirement," not a clear indication the region’s largest ferry outfit is going under, everyone else watching the situation seems to think the company is done.

News articles have cited sources who say NY Waterway is losing $500,000 per week. The company carries about 32,000 passengers per day.

A plan put forward by Hudson County and key waterfront municipalities would have the Hudson County Improvement Authority, a local public authority involved in housing, waste management and other functions, borrow money to purchase the system and hand it over to joint operation by Hoboken and Weehawken. It is strongly backed by Hoboken mayor David Roberts and Weehawken mayor Richard Turner. News reports say the purchase will cost at least $53 million. HCIA has been discussing the plan with banks, so it will be ready to go if Waterway ceases operation.

Some routes from Hoboken and Weehawken are said to operate in the black. The local mayors may see an opportunity for a revenue windfall there, especially if commuter populations keep growing.

Backers of the plan say it will be preferable for the system to be taken over whole rather than broken up among smaller operators, because it is impossible to know what sort of service would result in such a scenario. However, even proponents of public ownership say elimination of some routes would be inevitable. Hudson County executive Tom DeGise told amNY there would be significant service cuts if the county takes over.

NY Water Taxi has expressed interest in acquiring two Waterway routes that serve lower Manhattan. Academy Bus and Circle Line have also been mentioned as parties possibly interested in parts of the Waterway system.

Some Hudson freeholders are worried that Hudson County taxpayers will get saddled with a money loser, only half of whose riders come from Hudson County. They want to know why, if public ownership is a good deal, the Port Authority isn’t stepping in to run the boats. One major issue is whether a public entity should assume any of NY Waterway’s outstanding debt. One version of the takeover would allow Waterway to go into bankruptcy, then a the public entity would purchase elements of the system from banks. Political opponents of Turner in Hoboken say the plan smacks of a bail-out of NY Waterway’s owners and that city governments are poorly-equipped to run transit service.

The Port Authority was mentioned as a likely operator in the initial NY Times exposés of Waterway’s financial plight, but the Jersey City Reporter said recently that the PA has no intention of stepping in. As owner of some of the terminals the ferry services use, the Port Authority would have approval power of some of the route transfers, however. One report also said NJ Transit was examining its options regarding the ferry services.

After September 11, 2001, NY Waterway’s ridership soared, and the company received millions in federal aid so it could offer service that replicated the PATH train schedules. But a few weeks ago, the company said it was facing cash flow problems due to the increase in the price of fuel, a diminished job market in Lower Manhattan, and a drop in ridership since downtown PATH service resumed. Overall ridership fell 22 percent this year. It also announced that beginning Nov. 1, it was cutting service on some routes. Waterway has also raised its fares twice in the last year.

Interestingly, robust cross-Hudson ferry service is a key element in New York City’s plan to bring most Jets football fans via mass transit to a new west side stadium. 

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