2015

Completing Bostons Ferry System A Blueprint for Excellence

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Introduction Boston Harbor and its waterfront have undergone

an historic renaissance. Over $25 billion in public

funds were used to clean up the harbor, reroute the

Central Artery and create the Boston Harbor Islands

National Park. Those public investments have paid

off handsomely in private development. Indeed,

without this profound transformation, Boston would

never have been chosen as the U.S. bid city for the

2024 Summer Olympics.

Boston Harbor is once again a sparkling amenity for

residents, businesses and visitors. Its time to take its ferry system to scale. The keys to success are well-

known:

A completed network of ferry terminals with

links to public transit.

Seamless user experience with the MBTA.

Coordinated governance within MassDOT

and the MBTA to set policy priorities and

manage resources.

Public-private partnerships to promote water

transportation.

Continued technical, contracting and

regulatory innovation to improve trip times,

operating efficiencies, and ADA access.

The benefits of a robust Boston Harbor ferry system

are many; the costs are relatively minor. With cranes up all over the waterfront, city-

wide planning underway for the Olympics and a recognized need to invest in our

mass transit system, now is the time to develop the infrastructure needed to provide

the door-to-door service residents, businesses and tourists need to make ferry service

among their top choices.

In 2012, MassDOT created the Ferry Compact, an executive-level committee of water

transportation stakeholders focused on developing financially and environmentally

What is a Ferry?

Many passenger boats

ply Boston Harbor and

Massachusetts Bay.

Ferries have scheduled

routes and must be

ADA-compliant. They

include commuter

boats, inner harbor

shuttles, Boston Harbor

Island ferries and

recreational excursion

boats. They may be

seasonal or year-round.

In addition, water taxis

provide essential on-

demand inner harbor

service for times and

places not served by

scheduled ferries.

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sustainable ferry services. We turn to Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack to continue and expand that commitment. Harbor ferries can go far in easing

Bostons traffic problems, spurring transit-related development and increasing recreational access to the Boston Harbor Islands.

Getting to Scale Bringing Bostons ferry system to scale will provide much-needed public transit to relieve downtown and Seaport traffic congestion while accelerating broader

awareness of Boston as an outstanding coastal city. As this winters storms showed, the MBTA is sorely in need of investment and improvement. Regional and harbor

ferries provide a cost-effective, underused opportunity to stretch our public transit

dollars.

Boston Harbor ferries already make

over three million rider-trips annually

for commuter and recreational

activities. Ferries are a smart

investment, requiring lower overall

subsidies than other forms of mass

transit. They significantly improve

commuter and recreational links

between Boston Harbor and Mass

Bay coastal communities and spur

transit-oriented development

around their terminals. Ferries are essential to accessing the Boston Harbor Islands

National Park, an exceptional public asset minutes from downtown and other

waterfront communities. Finally, ferries and ferry terminals provide invaluable

emergency response resources during natural and human-caused disasters.

The current business model for Boston Harbor ferries involves contracting with private

boat operators. This allows Bostons recreational and excursion market to partially subsidize scheduled passenger service. That strategy by itself, however, is not

sufficient to make ferry transit frequent, convenient, sustainable, and affordable for

everyday users. The following is needed to make Bostons ferry system as successful as that of other outstanding waterfront cities such as New York, San Francisco and

Amsterdam.

Ferry Terminals

Completion of Boston Harbors ferry terminal infrastructure--including ADA access--is the essential first step in bringing the system to scale. Well-sited ferry terminals have

the following characteristics:

They provide optimal access to residential, business and recreational

destinations.

They decrease travel times over alternative mass transit options.

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They have access to multimodal land connections (bus, subway, rail, taxi, bike

and pedestrian) to provide door-to-door transportation. Such multimodal

connections should be seamless, highly-visible and well-signed.

They have enclosed passenger waiting areas (or shelters at a minimum),

restrooms, ticketing and information facilities. Covered gangways protect

passengers in inclement weather.

Docks providing access to scheduled ferry service are required to be ADA-compliant.

Ramp riders and other mechanical conveyances are difficult to maintain in a

saltwater environment. Strong preference should be given for ADA docks that use

articulating gangway systems with no electric or mechanical dependency.

Although currently the only regularly scheduled inner harbor ferry is the MBTAs Long Wharf-Charlestown Navy Yard route, ADA-compliant ferry docks exist or are planned

for multiple other destinations. Outer harbor and Massachusetts Bay routes currently

go to the Harbor Islands, Salem, Lynn, Hingham, Hull and Provincetown.

Maps on pages 4 and 5 show the location of existing and proposed ferry terminals in

Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay.

Seamless User Experience

The essence of completing Boston Harbors passenger ferry system is to recognize it as an integral part of Greater Bostons mass transit system. This means that ferries must be seamlessly integrated with land-based services and understood to require an on-

going, predictable subsidy, just like buses, subways and trains.

Customers should experience all public transit modes as part of the same system.

Commuter ferry fares need to be consistent with rail and bus transit, payable via

Charlie Cards and other MBTA fare media, and subject to discounted transfers.

Users of the MBTAs website should find a ferry icon and trip planning tool that leads potential customers to all scheduled passenger services in the harborwhether MBTA-sponsored or notespecially including the Harbor Island routes. Like other MBTA services, ferry schedules should be available on the MBTA website and in print.

The MBTA also needs to expand its intermodal connections. Some of these, as on the

South Boston Waterfront, will involve multi-party capital planning. Others, like Long

Wharf, are near completion. One step that can be taken nowand recurrently as the system growsis to adjust bus routes to include ferry terminals where possible to expand the reach of ferry commuters inland.

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Coordinated governance by MassDOT

No single public entity owns the ferry system in Boston Harbor. Even when the system goes to scale, a diversity of roles and spheres of influence is likely to continue.1

Improving Bostons ferry system requires identifying the public

agencies whose existing missions

are best aligned with scheduled

ferry service and tasking them with

the leadership/coordinating roles

necessary for Bostons ferry system to succeed. Those agencies are

the MBTA and its parent entity,

MassDOT.

Through its Office of Transportation

Planning, MassDOT is responsible

for setting policy priorities and

funding strategies across all forms

of transportation, and across all

modes of transit within the MBTA.

MassDOT also holds a senior

position on the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization, which allocates federal

highway, transit, and multi-purpose funding among competing projects.

MassDOTs role in bringing Bostons ferry system to scale is to make water transportation a clear priority and provide sufficient funding through the MBTA. In turn,

the MBTA would increase its responsibility for managing branding, operating subsidies,

and vendor contracts for scheduled ferries.

A new comprehensive route feasibility analysis is needed to incorporate changes in

development and commuting patterns and to recommend a phased investment

and action plan. While important components of such a plan are currently included

in the South Boston Waterfront Transportation Plan, a more comprehensive

assessment is needed to include the inner harbor, outer harbor and Mass Bay ferry

transit needs and options. Such an analysis should include an infrastructure

completion action plan as well as development of designs and specifications for

vessel innovation needs.

1 Today, various scheduled ferry routes are sponsored by the MBTA, Boston Harbor Island Alliance, the

Cities of Lynn, Salem and the Town of Winthrop. The ferries themselves are operated by private

contractors. Inner Harbor ferry terminals are owned by Massport, the Boston Redevelopment Authority

and a range of private landowners. Funding, construction and operations are affected by Mass DEP

through Chapter 91 permitting, Mass CZM through consistency concurrence for projects needing

federal approvals, and the US Coast Guard through regulatory jurisdiction of passenger transport.

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This should be a high priority for MassDOT and the Commonwealth. We need only

look as far as New York Harbor to see how detailed, ongoing planning has led to the

successful expansion of the ferry system to meet new commuting demands related to

the wave of new waterfront development.

In his 2015 State of the City Address, Mayor DiBlasio announced that the City will

extend public ferry service to all five boroughs over the next three years, with fares

identical to land transit. The Mayor reasoned that expanded ferry service gives New

Yorkers opportunity and connection, and will spur economic development in the outer boroughs.

Capital investment and operating subsidies

Securing limited federal and state transportation funds will require leadership within

both MassDOT and the legislature, supported by the water transportation community.

Such funding will only be a priority when decision makers recognize Bostons ferry system as a cost-effective, viable solution to ease traffic congestion and boost transit-

related development for Greater Bostons coastal communities.

Federal capital funding programs can be used for landside facilities, vessel

procurement or existing vessel repowering with Tier 3 (low-emission) marine engines.

The recent federal surface transportation law, MAP-21 offers several relevant

programs:

An 80:20 match for capital investments in publicly owned ferry boats and

terminals where bridges, tunnels, or other highway alternatives are not feasible.

The Surface Transportation Program (STP) and the Congestion Mitigation and

Air Quality Program (CMAQ) can be used to purchase or overhaul ferries.

The Federal Lands Access Program supports access to "the federal estate"

through "infrastructure" owned by states or communities (e.g., public piers).

Mass DEP also receives

significant Chapter 91

state licensing feesup to a million dollars for

large waterfront

development projects.

Through coordination

and planning, these

one-time funds could

better support the

completion of Boston

Harbors waterfront ferry infrastructure.

Although Chapter 91 contributions are a useful source of capital funding in the short

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term, they are not sufficient for all needed ferry capital and operating needs and will

expire and diminish over time. Their effectiveness would be increased by pooling and

distributing them through a coordinated strategy, and/or by using them as a match

to secure additional public grants. In negotiations with waterfront developers, the

City should support ferry service as an option for traffic demand management.

Two additional local funding sources are associated with the planned Wynn Everett

casino. Surrounding Community Agreements with Somerville, Medford, Cambridge

and Boston include a total of $550,000 annually for water transportation. In addition,

an estimated $13 million in annual Community Mitigation Funds will be administered

by the Gaming Commission to improve water and sewer districts, local and regional education, transportation, infrastructure, housing, environmental issues and public

safety Depending on community priorities, some of these funds could also be available for water transportation.

Such funds can be helpful in completing capital improvements to the ferry system.

Like any mass transit system, however, ferries require predictable, dedicated

operating subsidies to provide high-frequency, low-cost service. This is true whether

the vessels themselves are provided by private operators or transit agencies.

Boston Harbors existing ferry routes receive the lowest subsidies of any form of public transit in the MBTA system. Expanding routes and schedules will require additional

operating support

to bring fares more

in line with

subsidized buses,

subways and trains.

Ferry terminals,

docks and vessels

also require

preventative,

routine and capital

maintenance. An

assurance for

funding such

ongoing expenses

should be

established and

included in operations contracts.

Innovation

Boston Harbor ferries have been run as a public/private partnership over the past five

decades, with some publicly-subsidized routes contracted to private operators

through RFPs. Coordinating technological, contractual and regulatory requirements

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can drive private sector innovation to decrease operating costs, trip times and

environmental impacts. Here are some win-win opportunities:

Decreased trip times. Innovative vessels are needed for some of the inner harbor

transit routes in particular. Bostons inner harbor currently requires very slow speed limits to prevent wakes that threaten public safety and coastal erosion. The

Harbormaster, however, can authorize increased ferry speed limits for proven low-

wake commercial vessels. Improved ferry design, including bow loading, ADA

boarding access, greater maneuverability and low-displacement hulls can decrease

passenger trip times without increasing wakes or coastal wash.

Improved efficiency and emissions. The EPA will soon require ferries to operate Tier 3

low-emission engines. Federal grant programs exist to help pay for new vessels

and/or the replacement of older diesel reduction engines with Tier 3 level engines.

MassDOT can significantly improve both ferry operating costs and environmental

impacts by advocating more strongly for the states share of these funds.

State leadership is needed to

transition the fleet toward alternative

fuels. Challenges include the need

to develop alternative-fuel engines

appropriately sized for small-to mid-

scale ferries. Bunkering and tankage

for alternative fuels such as LNG and

CNG would also need to be

developed in association with

landside public transit, such as

Massport and MBTA buses to

achieve economies of scale.

Electric/diesel hybrid powering for

smaller vessels is also possible.

Optimizing vessel specifications. Different vessel types and sizes are appropriate for

the Inner Harbor, Outer Harbor and Mass Bay routes. Inner harbor vessels for most

new routes need accommodate no more than 49 passengers in fully enclosed

climate controlled cabins, while outer harbor and Mass Bay routes require vessels of

149 passengers or more. Creating a procurement process that specifies vessel

requirements and offers operators time to purchase or modify them will spur the

development of vessel specifications best suited to Boston Harbors varying navigation conditions.

Outer harbor and Mass Bay vessels should remain a mix of public and private

ownership so that they may continue to be used by operators for multiple purposes in

addition to the commuter period transit routes.

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Conclusion and recommendations

The rapid development of Bostons waterfront now threatens its very success due to overloaded surface roads, subways and buses. Completing Boston Harbors ferry system will provide a viable alternative for commuters and visitors and complete our

renaissance as a world-class coastal city.

We call on the City and State to do the following:

1. Commit to fully integrating Boston Harbors commuter and recreational ferries with Greater Bostons land-based public transit system.

2. Coordinate governance and management through MassDOT and the MBTA.

3. Complete the ferry infrastructure of ADA-compliant terminal facilities and seamless

intermodal connections through committing and coordinating multiple ferry

stakeholders (i.e., MassDOT, Massport, municipalities and private landowners).

4. Identify and pursue applicable federal grant programs for ferry terminals and

vessels.

5. Support Mass DEPs efforts to pool and dedicate Chapter 91 funds to encourage ferry ridership based on a prioritized set of capital investments and/or operating

subsidies.

6. Encourage and support R&D of innovative vessel technology including low-wake

and -wash design, low-emission engines, ADA access and high maneuverability to

reduce trip times and environmental impacts.

7. Coordinate expanded ferry services with short and long-range initiatives such as

the South Boston Water Transportation plan, Bostons Climate Action Plan, reinvestment in the MBTA and Bostons 2024 Olympics bid.

Authors Julie Wormser and Vivien Li, The Boston Harbor Association

Phil Griffiths, Boston Harbor Island Alliance

Technical Review and Graphic Design Alison Nolan, Boston Harbor Cruises

Charles Norris, Norris and Norris Assoc.

Alden Raine, AECOM

Megan Kluttz, map design

This report was funded through generous support from Wynn Resorts.