Comment of the Day

"The problem with ferries in New York is mostly urban geography. Since New York is built on a bunch of islands, the idea of more ferries sounds great, but this ignores how the city developed. Commercial development such as office buildings were in the center of the islands. The edges were used for docks, then later for expressways, parkland, and some residential. There just isn't all that much to commute to within walking distance of actual and potential ferry stops.The new developments on Roosevelt Island create a place where people would want to commute to where commuting by ferry would be viable. But that brings up another issue. The city's mass transit network (when you add buses) already provides fairly comprehensive geographical coverage. The problem (especially with the buses) is frequency and reliability of service, and to a lesser extent getting information out to the users. Improvements in these areas give more bang for the buck than trying to add additional modes."?Willem Kieft [Waterway Watch]