New Jersey is considering legislation to get NJ Transit into the ferry business. In mid-February, as the Port Authority ended months of speculation that ferry service from New Jersey to Manhattan could see a serious diminution in service, the New Jersey Assembly approved bill A.3674, authorizing NJ Transit to take over ferry systems that fail.

A companion bill, S. 2228, will be voted on by a NJ Senate committee this week.

The Port Authority’s February action was a deal with Billybey Ferry Co. to shuttle 15,000 daily riders from Hoboken and Jersey City to Manhattan. The agreement, now endorsed by the Port Authority board, calls for the financially beleaguered NY Waterway to surrender its contract to operate routes in Hoboken and points south into New York City. The agreement allows NY Waterway to continue services on all routes north of Hoboken.

There are no provisions in the legislation being considered in Trenton to increase NJ Transit capital or operating funds in the event that the cash-strapped agency is forced to assume operation of ferry service. Hopefully, Transit will be spared the necessity of having to run boats. But lawmakers ought to spend some time with NJ Transit’s books before adding to its financial obligations. The agency is in the process of raising fares and faces huge budget challenges in the years ahead.

The legislation and continuing uncertainty over how to manage and pay for ferry service lends urgency to a recent call by the Regional Plan Association for New York and New Jersey to work together to devise a regional ferry network. In a recent newsletter, RPA urged states to form a plan that includes details on who runs what routes, how to make the system sustainable and how to provide an affordable service to riders. 

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