Remember the East River Ferry that we were so excited about? The one that was free for a few weeks when it first started running? Well, as it turns out, now that it's not so free anymore, no one wants to take it.
As The Post puts it, business has been sinking "like the Titanic" after NY Waterway instituted a $4 ticket fee last week. Ridership dropped from 10,900 during the ten day free period to just 3,613 in the first five days of ticketed rides. On the first Monday that passengers had to pay, only 2,824 customers hopped on, as opposed to the 5,700 that came aboard the previous Monday.
Although the Ferry is less than a month old, it's already had its fair share of problems: delays early on annoyed customers, and Commuter Race we staged last month resulted in the Ferry trip from Williamsburg to Madison Square taking over an hour. Still, NY Waterways doesn't seem too concerned: "The ridership . . . has exceeded our expectations and, even at the start of the pay period, we have seen high demand for this new transportation service," said a company spokesman.
