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MBTA sees 'tremendous' potential for additional ferry expansions
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It's Monday. This week may feel more like September than mid-August, with temperatures dropping into the 50s the next couple nights.
But first, the news:
Keep calm and ferry on: As the MBTA has focused on repairing its train system over the past few years, another part of the system has undergone a quiet expansion: ferries. "There's a lot of untapped potential," Dave Perry, the T's director of ferry operations, told WBUR's Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez last week, as officials celebrated a $1 million state grant from Gov. Maura Healey's administration to support a new route in Boston Harbor. While extending a subway line can take decades of planning and hundreds of millions of dollars, Perry said adding new ferry routes is relatively easy. "We don't need to lay down tracks," he said. "We don't need to lay down a whole signal system. It's all here. We need docks. We need boats. So, it's not nothing, but it can be done." T General Manager Phil Eng added he also thinks the potential for growth is "tremendous."
- To recap: Within the last year, the MBTA has made seasonal ferry pilots to East Boston and Lynn permanent. It added four new ferries, including the fleet's "largest boat yet." And it's made service to Quincy and Winthrop two separate routes, a move the agency says tripled ridership this summer. (That's what last week's grant is for.)
- Starting this coming Sunday, the T also plans to run several ferries an hour or two later on Friday and Saturday nights, as part of the agency's new late-night service.
- Longer schedules? Currently, the MBTA's Hingham/Hull and Charlestown ferries are the only routes that run year-round, while service for East Boston, Lynn, Quincy and Winthrop pauses during the winter. But Perry suggested that could change as ridership grows. (The major challenge is ensuring the boats have enough downtime for maintenance, which typically happens in the winter.) "We'll look at it," he said. "Thats another potential area for growth."
- More routes? The MBTA and MassDOT are studying the possibility of adding routes to new destinations like Gloucester and Salem. (Boston Harbor Cruises runs a Boston-to-Salem ferry, but it costs $49 roundtrip, compared to between $5 and $20 for a T ferry roundtrip.) Perry says the study, which is expected to wrap up by early next year, will shape where the T focuses next.
- Fun fact: Did you know the Charlestown ferry was Boston's first public transit line? Three centuries before the T existed, colonists ran a 17th century public ferry across Boston Harbor that charged a pence a person.
Farther out to sea: Hurricane Erin could impact waters off the Massachusetts coast later this week. According to the National Weather Service, large swells and dangerous rip currents could be a problem as early as Wednesday and last into Friday. "We are reminding people if they are headed to the beach, be very aware of your surroundings," NWS meteorologist Tory Dooley told WBUR's Paul Connearney. "Swim at a beach that is guarded by a lifeguard because we are anticipating that we'll have some high rip risks." Southern facing beaches will be at the greatest risk, he added.
- The latest: Hurricane Erin intensified to a Category 4 storm overnight, after lashing Turks and Caicos, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with winds and heavy rain. Click here to see its projected path off the East Coast.
Braintree's baseball team is out of the Little League World Series, but they did make their hometown proud. After dropping their first game last Thursday, Braintree won their elimination game Saturday against a team from Texas — the first win in Williamsport by a Massachusetts team since 2009. The team lost a 3-2 nail-biter yesterday to a team from Washington state, which knocked them out of the competiton. Throughout the tournament, fans packed Braintree's Southside Tavern to cheer on the team. "This might be like the '04 Sox the way the atmosphere was," Sean Conroy, one of the restaurant's co-owners, told WBUR's Sharon Brody.
- Need a new local team to root for? While Braintree officially represented the New England region, there is actually one New England team left: Fairfield, Connecticut. They're out of the "Metro" region and have yet to lose a game.
P.S.— Embrace your inner child tonight and come to CitySpace tonight for a whimsical workshop on kites. For $25, you'll get all the supplies needed to design a one-of-a-kind kite. The workshop also includes a live interactive demo, a dance party and lots of positive entertainment to get you laughing, connecting and creating!
