Efforts To Ease Airport Commute Lead Port Authority To The Water
by Paul Menchaca, Western Queens Editor - March 04, 2004
One if by air, two if by river.
First the Port Authority introduced the AirTrain to make the commute easier to Kennedy Airport, now it plans to operate a ferry service to LaGuardia Airport from Manhattan.
The agency sent out a request for proposals last month and received seven bids on the project. A selection is supposed to be made within the next few weeks and the service is expected to be running by early next year, said Port Authority spokesman Pascuale DiFulco.
It still has not been determined where the ferry service will pick up passengers in Manhattan, but DiFulco alluded to the possibility of it being tied into the post-September 11th rebuilding efforts.
“A lot of this has that lower Manhattan element, but we aren’t sure yet,” he said.
The commute will take passengers from Manhattan to LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal. A shuttle bus will transport passengers to other terminals at the airport.
The incorporation of a ferry service follows an edict by Governor George Pataki that, along with the AirTrain, strives to streamline the commute to JFK and LaGuardia.
“Governor Pataki has made it a priority of his to improve access to the airports and it is certainly an initiative we at the Port Authority support,” DiFulco said.
The initiative has also won praise from local elected officials, who have fought a proposal to extend an elevated subway line.
“The city and the MTA have been attempting to extend the elevated N/W subway line, which is 19th century technology, through the heart of Astoria,” said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., of Astoria. “We have been fighting this and telling them to start a ferry service instead. Now we will have service to Manhattan from LaGuardia and our community will continue to be vibrant and to prosper.”
Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, also from Astoria, added, “This will reduce vehicular traffic and is much more sensible than extending the elevated subway through our community.”
A ferry service from Manhattan to LaGuardia Airport was tried once before, when Delta Airlines subsidized the service in 2000 for its passengers. The airline shut it down because it did not prove to be profitable.
DiFulco is not discouraged by this failed experiment. He notes that the new ferry service will be available for all terminals, unlike the one that was subsidized by Delta.
“In the aftermath of September 11th, ferry service became a popular mode of transportation,” he said. “Governor Pataki is committed to improving airport access by all available options, whether by air, by rail, or by sea. The airports are both by water so that’s one of those options you want to take advantage of.”
Once the ferry service is launched for LaGuardia, the Port Authority is expected to bring the same service to JFK.
From The Queens Chronicle
Manhattan - LGA Ferry
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Cotuit
, Mar 07 2004 07:25 PM
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