New ferry route from Liberty Harbor to Lower Manhattan

By Claire Moses/The Jersey Journal
November 18, 2009, 8:45PM


New ferry route is opening from Liberty Harbor in Jersey City to Lower Manhattan.

A new ferry route, from Jersey City's Liberty Harbor to the World Financial Center on the west side of Lower Manhattan, is scheduled to open next week, according to Billybey Ferry Inc. officials.

"To meet the changing needs of our customers, we are offering this new route," said Paul Goodman, chief executive officer of Billybey, a ferry company that operates part of New York Waterway.

Commuters will be able to try out the new route free on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week as well as Monday, Nov. 30.

After Dec. 1st, Billybey will offer a "park and float" monthly package for $260. With that pass, people will be able to park in the 1,100 spot lot, close to Marin Boulevard.

Single trips on the ferry will cost $5, a monthly card without parking will be $166.

Service between Liberty Harbor and Pier 11, on the east side of Lower Manhattan, will continue, with boats departing every 12 minutes.

Ferries between Liberty Harbor and World Financial Center will run every 24 minutes in the morning between 6 a.m. and 9:42 a.m. and between 1:42 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the afternoon. The ride across the Hudson River takes eight minutes, according Billybey Ferry Inc.

Ferry ridership declined last year and in the first quarter of 2009 by roughly 10 percent, Goodman said. Now, he added, the decline in ridership has stopped.

The new route from Liberty Harbor is designed to attract those people who would otherwise park their car in Lower Manhattan, after sitting in traffic.

Commuters will still be able to take the ferry from Paulus Hook to the World Financial Center.

New York Waterway has a fleet of 33 boats, of which 15 are under the control of Billybey. No new boats were purchased for the new route, Goodman said.