[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 66 (Monday, May 19, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FERRY INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION ACT

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                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 15, 1997

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the Ferry Intermodal 
Transportation Act. The ferry program in the Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act [ISTEA] is a small but vital program that 
has benefitted 38 States. Ferries are an essential component in many 
communities, providing vital transportation services for passengers, 
automobiles, buses and trucks in locations where there are no 
alternatives. Since ferries do not require costly infrastructure such 
as roads, bridges, or tunnels, there are great savings in time, 
capital, and environmental resources. Ferries are effective because 
they use nature's own highways, rivers, lakes, and bays.
  Looking around the Nation, ferries are quietly and efficiently 
serving their communities. In the northeast, ferries are used in Maine, 
Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Islands, and New 
Jersey's Cape May. In the South, you will find ferries in Florida, 
Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina, which has the most extensive 
commitment to the ISTEA ferry program. The Great Lakes have entire 
communities which are wholly dependent on ferries in places like 
Mackinaw Island, Beaver Island, and Washington Island. The West has the 
famous Catalina ferry in southern California and extensive fleets in 
the San Francisco Bay. The City of Seattle heavily depends on the 
Nation's largest capacity ferries to move citizens from Whitby Island 
and around the Puget Sound. The name, Alaskan Marine Highway System, 
underscores the importance of ferries to this huge State's 
transportation needs. Many cities like Boston, Baltimore, and Fort 
Lauderdale have found water taxis are an effective way to reduce 
congestion in heavily frequented tourist attractions. The 
transportation flexibility that ferries provide to communities has been 
proven time and again. In the most recent San Francisco earthquake, the 
combined ferry fleets completely took over the functions of the Bay 
Bridge and kept the Bay Area functioning. During the historic, massive 
flooding of the Mississippi River, the State of Missouri brought in 
ferries to replace bridges which had washed away. Time and again, in 
their quiet way ferries have shown themselves to be an economical, 
efficient, and effective means of transportation which deserve to be 
considered in transportation planning.
  Let me illustrate what commuter ferry service in the New York Harbor 
means in my region. Since 1771, there has been a long history and great 
demand for inter-harbor ferry service. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron 
Burr ferried themselves here to Weehawken to fight their duel. John 
Stevens of New Jersey and Robert Fulton of New York competed in 
developing the steamboat in their efforts to dominate the ferry market 
and ultimately revolutionized the maritime industry. We have been 
through many transportation trends since that time: railroads, 
streetcars, subway, superhighways, and the era of great bridges and 
tunnels. Everything old is new again. Ferries, one of our oldest forms 
of transit in our region, is, when combined with the urban core mass 
transit project on the New Jersey side and the vast New York transit 
system, a seamless web of transportation options to get our people to 
their places of work and recreation.
  The traffic congestion in our streets and on our bridges can only be 
reduced by the creative use of alternatives. The New York Harbor is now 
home to the largest and fastest growing network of commuter ferry 
services. Ferries connect two locations in Weehawken, three locations 
in Jersey City, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey with the 
Manhattan Central Business District, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Hunter's 
Point and Laggard airport in New York. Ferry ridership now exceeds 2.5 
million passengers every year. By 2005, 8.5 million passengers will be 
using ferries annually.
  Building on the vision that began in the Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act [ISTEA], I am proposing new legislative 
flexibility to help finance comprehensive ferry programs for the 
nation. We are reauthorizing the original ISTEA ferry program and 
creating new options for creative entrepreneurism for the financing and 
construction of ferry systems. This legislation would establish 
alternative financing for both public and private resources similar to 
those now used for mass transit. It directs transportation planners to 
incorporate ferry service in their regional transportation plans. It 
encourages public private partnerships, joint ventures and flexible 
options to maximize low cost efficient service.
  ISTEA can be proud of the achievements that have been initiated. In 
the New York Harbor, the ISTEA ferry program was the source for grants 
of $1.7 million in loan guarantees for the construction of a new 399-
passenger ferry; a total of $9.2 million in grants and loan guarantees 
provided by the Clinton administration through the ISTEA ferry program 
to improve commuter transportation in the New York/northern New Jersey 
metropolitan area. We must build on this legacy. The Ferry Intermodal 
Transportation Act is the renewal of this commitment. I urge its 
passage.

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