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ed, "no matter why or what you'll do tomorrow." In November 2003, the company called-in critics for a closed demo of the new tracking system, the outcome of which is uncertain. The course at Waterway took a new heading, as the company announced it could no longer continue key routes between New Jersey and Manhattan. The Bubble Some ferry executives describe "five years' growth" in the two years following 9/11, but eventually the damaged cross-Hudson subways were back in service. Five years of growth found only three years of market, after the sub- way riders receded from the charming but indirect water- borne route to their connections. It's the old story about wartime expansion. Whether that growth was sustainable or not, it set other things in motion. Ferry operators in New York today bank on the forced discovery, by commuters who would- n't have chosen the ride otherwise, of what a pleasant commute the ferry can be. Not everyone has inland con- nections - plenty of people can walk to work from the waterfront. As we went to press, the Jersey Journal, under the headline "Ferry Saved!," announced a new contender, BillyBey Ferry Company LLC. The firm had reached tentative agreements with the Port Authority to acquire Waterway's Hoboken and Jersey City routes. New York Waterway would continue its Weehawken and Belford N.J. routes, along with its run up the river at Haverstraw. New York Waterway also would provide personnel and continue to manage and operate the Hoboken and Jersey City runs for BillyBey. A fee charged by the Port Author- ity - "one of the factors that put NY Waterway's busy Hoboken routes in the red, officials said" according to the Journal - would approximately be halved for the same March, 2005 • MarineNews 29 Water Taxi Circle 203 on Reader Service Card Circle 221 on Reader Service Card Full circle for Tom Fox. Starting out as an Urban Ranger, he finds himself 30 years later off Fort Wadsworth, on his own New York Water Taxi for its inau- gural presentation of the National Parks tour last October. (Photo: Don Sutherland.) MN MARCH05 4(25-32).qxd 3/4/2005 11:21 AM Page 29
