Today, Sean Campion—CBC’s Director of Housing and Economic Development Studies—will testify before the New York City Council on NYC Ferry’s finances and the effect that overseeing the ferry has had on the budget of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC).   

CBC’s research has documented that NYC Ferry is highly subsidized, both relative to New York’s other transit systems and other ferries nationally. CBC has called on EDC to: 

• Eliminate the lowest-ridership routes; 
• Avoid money-losing expansions;  
• Target subsidies to those in the greatest need of affordable transit options; and  
• Increase fares for other riders to match those of comparable premium transit services, like the MTA’s express bus system. 

EDC has taken some welcome steps to address the high subsidy needed to run NYC Ferry, including shifting to variable pricing and issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new operating agreement. These may modestly improve the ferry system’s financial footing, but they do not go far enough to reduce the need for costly subsidies.  

Ultimately, the success of both the Ferry Forward plan and the new operating agreement should be evaluated by whether and how much the subsidy—per ride and in total—is reduced, with evidence that the remaining subsidy above what is provided to other transit users is well targeted to those in the greatest need of transit options and affordability. 

The Council hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. and can be viewed here: https://council.nyc.gov/livestream/#location-chambers.