Integrating Passenger Ferry Service with Mass Transit (2013)

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In several urban areas of North America, and in many international settings, ferry trans- portation provides critical connections for communities of all sizes and serves a variety of needs. Many of these ferry systems have been coordinating with land-based transit services for decades, ensuring that passengers can easily reach their destinations without using a private automobile. At the same time, many communities with historic ports are finding the addition of ferries to the transportation network to be an effective tool in managing transportation demand and, in some cases, providing new capacity to overburdened roadway networks. In an increasingly interconnected world, users of water-based transit often rely on the integration of ferry service with land-based public transit to reach their destinations. However, it is not known to what degree ferry services are coordinated with land-based transit in North America, and in what scenarios it is most advantageous for water- and land-based providers to integrate their services. The purpose of this synthesis is to document the state of practice of integration between land- and water-based transit systems and explore successful aspects of seamless integration. The report assembles and presents information about the state of water- and land-based transit collaboration in numerous locations around the United States, supplemented with examples from Canada, Australia, and Bermuda. The information in this synthesis can be used as a resource to improve ferry–transit interfaces and assist communities in establishing new coordination between ferry and transit service. Practical information is provided for transit agencies of all sizes by profiling innovative and successful practices, lessons learned, and gaps in information for future research. There are many forms and varying degrees of coordination between (or within) agencies that contribute to a seamless experience for passengers transferring between modes. Agencies that report a high level of integration between services included the following elements: • Ferry and transit connections are in the same terminal building or nearby. • Schedules are coordinated to enable passengers to plan a seamless trip using both modes. • Schedule and fare information are available on the Internet, mobile applications, and in paper form on both the ferry and the bus or train. • One ticket (or card) covers the fare(s) for both the ferry and transit on both ends of the journey. • Ferries and buses have operational coordination and will wait for each other when there is a delay. All of these elements contribute to integration between water- and land-based transit. The information in this synthesis was gathered by means of a survey distributed to selected transit and ferry agencies and companies around the United States; the survey was also dis- tributed to agencies and companies in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom (including Bermuda). The survey received an 80% response rate (46 of 57 agencies and companies), and respondents represented a geographically distributed sample—varying in size and age of system, degree of coordination between ferry and transit, and type of community served. Summary INTEGraTING PaSSENGEr FErry SErVICE WITH maSS TraNSIT

2 The survey responses provided several key findings about the coordination of ferries and transit and the main findings are summarized here: • The appropriate degree of water- to land-based transit service integration varies based on a number of factors related to geography, land use, and travel markets. Essentially the following four motivating factors were reported that give rise to ferry–transit integration. One or more of these factors may be present in each aspect of integration: – The land-based transit service is coordinated to the ferry schedule because the transit service is located on an island or remote location, and thus the ferry dock is a good ridership market. – The sheer volume of passengers transferring between ferry and land-based transit demands the attention of the agency, or agencies, involved. – Coordination is present in the initial development of services and the ferry–transit interface is fully integrated from the beginning or is developed as part of a new or added connection or increased capacity. – Coordination is a result of regional or local transportation demand management and/ or congestion management strategies. In many cases, ferry–bus integration serves to mitigate vehicle congestion and capacity issues for limited ferry vessel and terminal capacity or to address the capacity and congestion on a parallel roadway or transit line. • The degree of coordination is heavily linked to the frequency of ferry or transit service. High frequencies of ferry or transit service generally coincide with a decreased need to coordinate schedules and operations. Lower frequencies of service are more common, particularly for ferry service, and demand more creative solutions to facilitating integrated ferry–transit activity, such as matching headways between land- and water-based systems, facilitating operational communications, and integrating facilities. • Operational integration requires inter-agency coordination and is mostly applicable where the primary transit market is ferry riders. To avoid inconveniencing non-ferry-riding passengers, operational integration will sometimes only exist for limited routes, which are called a dedicated bus or train service in this report. In contrast, service designed to meet many traveler destinations, called multi-purpose service in this report, is less appropriate for operational integration because of other schedule coordination needs along the route. • Some ferry agencies are well established in their region and have successfully devel- oped a strong ridership base along key travel routes. However, this does not necessarily indicate the presence of integration with land-based transit services. • In this synthesis survey complete fare integration, where riders are granted a full fare transfer from one mode to the other, predominantly exists only within agencies that operate both land- and water-based modes. • Schedule and real-time information, accessible online and optimized for mobile devices, allows users to plan trips remotely and facilitates the communication of information across agencies, presenting a more unified service. • The physical nature of a ferry terminal may present obstacles to creating integrated facilities. Ferry docks are often long, adding distance required for foot passengers to connect between transit services. In addition, buses require space to queue, load, unload, and maneuver, which is not always available on the pier or in the immediate vicinity at the base of the pier. In these situations, wayfinding systems (such as signage) are used to create a more successful land- and water-based transit interface. This report summarizes findings from more than 60 different ferry-to-land-based transit interfaces (many agencies reported data for more than one interface). Each interface is unique; the precise methods and strategies used to coordinate in one location are not necessarily applicable in another. Many ferry routes are met by different transit agencies on either end of the route, and the ferry terminals connect different sizes of communities and types of land uses. Integration practices range from informal arrangements between field staff, ferry crews, terminal personnel, and bus operators, to a few umbrella policies established between the transit and ferry operators. The following chapters discuss the information gathered in the survey and provide case examples of key factors of land- and water-based transit integration.