Brooklyn Bridge Park Transportation Study, 3/2008

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SAm SChwARTz PLLC hDR-DANIEL FRANkFURT Figure VI-4 Water Taxi Figure VI-5 Bow Loading Operation BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK TRANSPORTATION AND ACCESS STUDY Recreational Ferry for Park Users According to the Park FEIS, the Park would generate approximately 27,000 trips during a typical summer Sunday and 15,000 trips during a typical summer weekday. The estimated daily trips by water taxi are 450 trips on a weekday and 810 trips on a Sunday. The proposed water taxi landing locations at Pier 6 and between Pier 2 and Pier 3, at the center of the Park, offer good access to the Park’s recreational attractions. In addition, these two landings are closest to the potential vertical connections at Remsen Street or Montague Street as well as the proposed bus pick-up/drop-off area at the MTA vent building. These landside access links to the neighborhood and the potential bus service to the Park make these landings even more attractive as embarkation/debarkation points for Park visitors. Internal Park circulation could be achieved with the use of the water taxi or other small vessel (such as the amphibious duck boat) providing frequent hop-on/hop-off service to all of the Park’s landings. A continuous loop service could run during peak Park hours in the summer season. This type of service could be offered as a Park amenity and might require subsidy. Operating costs for a typical water taxi vessel providing this service would range from approximately $600 to $1,000 per hour. Additionally, all landings could be served as add-ons to an existing ferry route with a more limited schedule. Sightseeing Tours and Other Excursions Operators of sightseeing tours and excursions will see the potential for offering these types of services to Park visitors. Based on the FEIS trip generation estimates mentioned previously, annual Park visitation would be in the range of 3 to 3.5 million visitors per year. It would be expected that the majority of these visits would be on summer weekends. These numbers could reasonably be expected to support service to the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, attracts about 4.5 million visitors per year and supports a Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferry, which attracts approximately 4,000 passengers on a typical summer Saturday. Other sightseeing and excursion services could be theme-based, such as historical, architectural, and ecological tours that are currently offered at other landing sites in the harbor. Other opportunities include summer recreational weekend service to Gateway National Recreation Area (Gateway) beaches, including Sandy Hook and Jacob Riis Park. Summer service to Sandy Hook has been operating for five years from ferry landings in Midtown and Lower Manhattan. The Brooklyn Heights community could provide a walk-on market for this service as an add-on to the existing route or as a stand alone service. The vessels used for travel across open ocean water and for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tours are larger than water taxis and usually side load, rather than bow load,
SAm SChwARTz PLLC hDR-DANIEL FRANkFURT their passengers, as shown previously in Figure VI-5. The proposed water taxi landings would not accommodate these boats. A suitable location for these landing areas and slips could be at the southern end of the Park near Pier 5. This area would provide for good access to the adjacent neighborhood with the vertical connections at Remsen or Montague Streets and the Park entrances at Atlantic Avenue and Joralemon Street. In addition, the bus pick-up/drop-off area at the MTA vent building in the Park and the Atlantic Avenue corridor provide linkages to the city’s transit infrastructure. Parking, although minimal, would also be available in this area as well as a taxi/auto pick-up/ drop-off. Dinner Cruises Dinner cruises have been successfully operating in New York Harbor for many years. These vessels are also larger and load from the side. Typically their slips are located near parking and convenient taxi and private vehicle pick-up/drop-off areas. The slips for these vessels would be best situated in the same general area as sightseeing and excursion boats and could be shared by both. Other Recreational Waterborne Service Other recreational opportunities exist for activities that are consistent with Park users and the experience of touring the waterfront. Commercial recreational fishing boats could compliment fishing activities programmed at the Park. These boat slips, like the sightseeing and dinner cruise vessels, would be best located near transit access and parking at the southern end of the Park. The duck boat, an amphibious vehicle that has been a mainstay of the Boston Harbor tourist industry and has been proposed for the west side of Manhattan, could provide a unique experience for visitors and tourists. This vessel requires a launching ramp. Community Comments The opportunities discussed above were presented at the community charrette on December 5, 2006, where two waterborne transportation sessions were held. In both sessions there was unanimous support for all types of ferry and excursion boat operations at the Park. There was a keen awareness that bus connections to the ferry landing sites were critical. Atlantic Avenue was mentioned as a location where ferries historically operated at the Atlantic Avenue ferry terminal. This location was supported as a main ferry terminal for Brooklyn in general and to and from the Park. Concern was voiced that the ferry service not be exclusive to higher income households and that fares be reasonable for all to enjoy this mode of commuting or traveling. Conclusion The Park will present many opportunities for a variety of waterborne transportation services. By the time the Park is operational, New York Harbor ferry service will have expanded beyond the 30 routes and 35 landing sites currently in place. The Atlantic Avenue ferry landing is well suited for offering commuter service to current and future residents residing near to this location. It could also provide connections to the BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK TRANSPORTATION AND ACCESS STUDY Atlantic Avenue transit options for additional commuters, Park visitors, and tour boat passengers. As the southern entrance to the Park, it has the potential to serve the area as a ferry terminal hub, especially if Governors Island developments are realized. The water taxi landings are adequate for the Park’s commuter ferry market; however, consideration should be made for larger vessels to accommodate additional commuters and Governors Island access. Sightseeing/excursion and dinner cruise vessels, which are usually side-loading, would be best located near Pier 5, convenient to the recommended MTA vent building bus/ shuttle pick-up/drop-off location. Using Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey as a comparison, the projected number of visitors to the Park could support a Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferry service. Summer excursions to Gateway beaches such as Sandy Hook and Jacob Riis Park could be attractive to residents near the Park. The proposed water taxi landings at Pier 2, near the center of the Park and Pier 6, offer good access to the Park’s recreational attractions and could be part of an internal Park loop system or add-on stops to other routes.
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Brooklyn Bridge Park Transportation Study, 3/2008

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