Port Authority of NY&NJ: Ferries will remain as an alternative means of transport across Hudson River

The Port Authority will continue weekend ferry service between the Paulus Hook Terminal in Jersey City and the World Financial Center Ferry Terminal in New York throughout 2014, following the success of a six-week pilot program for weekend riders who would normally use PATH between New Jersey and Lower Manhattan, the Port Authority said in a press release.

Nearly 10,000 riders were using the ferry service most weekends during the pilot, with ridership exceeding that figure one weekend. Such strong usage clearly demonstrated the service was a valuable alternative mode of transportation for PATH riders inconvenienced by the weekend work closures.

BillyBey Ferry Company, operating under the NY Waterway banner, will continue to provide the service under contract with the Port Authority on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the rest of the year, subject to periodic terminal closures for repairs and maintenance. The WTC and Exchange Place stations will remain closed each of the remaining weekends in 2014, since major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas fall on Thursdays.

The ferry is for PATH weekend riders as an alternative to service typically provided at the Exchange Place and World Trade Center stations. PATH is in the midst of a weekend outage schedule for an array of projects, including but not limited to post-Sandy desalination, track repairs, life safety/security work, lighting and communications, as well as recovering schedule time lost due to Superstorm Sandy to implement Positive Train Control safety improvements.

Weekend ferry service will continue to run from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and may be adjusted according to demand levels. Travel time between terminals is approximately seven minutes and ferries will depart every 15 minutes, beginning with the 8 a.m. departure from Paulus Hook. The last ferry will depart Paulus Hook at 9:45 p.m. and the World Financial Ferry Terminal at 9:53 p.m. One boat will be traveling back and forth between these two terminals.

Ferry service is available this weekend, Saturday, May 3 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, May 4, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the Paulus Hook Terminal in Jersey City and the World Financial Center Ferry Terminal in New York. To accommodate cyclists participating in the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, the ferry contractor will run seven additional early-morning ferries on Sunday, May 4, from Paulus Hook in Jersey City to the World Financial Center Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan, beginning at 6:00 a.m. and departing every 15 minutes thereafter.