Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry

The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, better known as the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry is a ferry company that operates ferry service across Long Island Sound, between the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut and the Long Island village of Port Jefferson, New York. Founded in 1883, it is one of the oldest operating ferry companies in America.

Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company
The MV Park City crossing Long Island Sound during the summer of 2016
WaterwayLong Island Sound
Transit typePassenger and automobile ferry
RouteBridgeport, Connecticut - Port Jefferson, New York
Carriespassengers, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, and buses of all sizes
OwnerMcAllister Towing and Transportation Co., Inc.
Began operation1883
System length18 miles
Travel time1 hour and 15 minutes, one way
No. of vessels3
No. of terminals2
Yearly ridership1.3 million (2017)
Yearly vehicles500,000 (2017)

Service

The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry operates between Port Jefferson, NY and Bridgeport, CT, and the service currently consists of three vessels and two terminals. Each vessel contains a dual-level car deck with capacity ranging from 90 to 120, often selling out on the popular summer weekends. Advance reservations can be made on the ferry company's website at www.88844ferry.com. The ferry company also carries larger vehicles like trucks and RVs.

Travel time is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, with departures running every hour if 3 boats are in service (On weekends and throughout the summer) or every 90 minutes with 2 boats in service (On off-season weekdays).

The ferry company's Bridgeport terminal (Built in 1992) contains a ticket kiosk (Mainly for walk-on passengers) as well as a snack bar. The smaller Port Jefferson terminal does not have a snack bar, but does have a ticket kiosk.

History

The first ferry service began in 1872 and proved popular.[1] The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company was subsequently founded in 1883 by several backers, including entrepreneur P.T. Barnum,[2] and Port Jefferson seaman Charles E. Tooker.[3] The ferry company originally operated steamship service, but the acquisition of the Martha's Vineyard in 1968 ended steamship service. Since then, the company has been referred to in signage and conversation as the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry, but the term Steamboat Company is still used legally.

Since 1980, the President has been Brian McAllister who also owns one hundred percent of the company's shares.[4] The McAllisters purchased the company in 1960 from Joseph Tooker, Charles Tooker's grandson.[5]

During the 1980s, the ferry company offered year-round service for the first time in company's history. The company procured the Grand Republic in 1983 (not to be confused with the current Grand Republic, built in 2003) and the Park City in 1986 to meet skyrocketing ridership.

In 1999, with the launching of the PT Barnum, the ferry company began operating hourly, three-vessel service on weekends, holidays, and during the summer.[6] The ferry company still operates only two vessels on off-season weekdays, with departures every 90 minutes. A new Grand Republic was procured in 2003, while the old one was sold to Cross Sound Ferry and renamed the Mary Ellen.

On May 29, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a United States District Court for the District of Connecticut ruling that the Bridgeport Port Authority was unconstitutionally collecting taxes from the ferry company and passengers.[4] The port authority was ordered to pay the ferry company $1.1 million in reparations.[7]

In 2013, the ferry company unveiled plans to move its Bridgeport dock across Bridgeport Harbor to a new and larger terminal.[8] The city approved the plan in April 2014, and the new terminal is slated to open in 2020.[9]

In June 2016, the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry made significant changes to its ticketing system. Tickets were for many years purchased while on board the vessel (at a purser's booth) and turned in to a crew member before walking or driving off. However, in June 2016, the new ticket system was implemented, where tickets are purchased and turned in before boarding the vessel. Tickets are sold online, over the phone, and inside the terminals. The new tickets contain bar codes, which are scanned prior to boarding, and can also be displayed over a cell phone or mobile device.[10]

As of 2017, the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry carries approximately 1.3 million passengers and 500,000 vehicles annually.

Ports

The distance between the two ports is approximately 18 miles (29 km). The average crossing is one hour and fifteen minutes in duration.

Bridgeport

The ferry is located at 330 Water Street on the western bank of Bridgeport Harbor. It is within walking distance of the Arena at Harbor Yard, the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, the Barnum Museum, the Metro-North station, the main GBTA Bus Station, the Klein Memorial Auditorium, and most of downtown. In 2004 a new car loading ramp was installed featuring AASHTO HS-20 truck capacity.[11] The aforementioned proposed new terminal will be located on Seaview Avenue at the former site of Turbana Corporation.

Port Jefferson

The ferry is located at 102 West Broadway at the head of the harbor. A large gold leaf statue of an eagle was erected on the corner of East Broadway and NY 25A in 2002, replacing one of Thomas Jefferson. Directly across from the dock, it is a monument for victims of 9/11.[12] The ferry is approximately one mile north of the Port Jefferson LIRR station.[13]

Current fleet

There are currently three vessels in service.[2][14] Each vessel is configured similarly, with a second level containing a small deck near the back, a large passenger cabin in the middle, with restrooms, seating and a snack bar, and a cocktail lounge (for passengers 21 and over) near the front. A third level contains more outdoor seating, as well as the bridge and helm elevated above the third deck. All three vessels have elevators from the car deck to the second and third levels, located near the back of each vessel. Each vessel is capable of traveling at speeds of 16 knots (18 mph).

MV Park City

The MV Park City was built in 1986 by Offshore Shipbuilding in Palatka, Florida at a cost of $5 million, originally to supplement the original MV Grand Republic. It is 280 feet (85 m) long and 47 feet (14 m) wide with capacity for 90 cars. It is the second vessel in the company's history to use the name Park City; the prior vessel, SS Park City, was operated by company from 1898 to 1950.

The Park City has received several midlife upgrades in recent years to keep it in line with the two newer vessels. In 2009, her engines were replaced with two brand-new Tier II Caterpillars, and in 2012, her main cabin received a $2 million renovation to replace seats, flooring, ceilings, and add an ADA-compliant elevator and restrooms.[15]

MV P.T. Barnum

The MV PT Barnum was built in 1999 by Eastern Marine Shipbuilding in Panama City, Florida. It is 300 feet (91 m) long and 52 feet (16 m) wide, and is named after the ferry company's co-founder, Bridgeport entrepreneur and circus impresario PT Barnum. She is capable of carrying 120 cars and was constructed at a cost of $12 million.

MV Grand Republic

The MV Grand Republic was built in 2003 by Eastern Marine Shipbuilding in Panama City, FL. She is the sister ship to the PT Barnum, with both vessels having been built to near-identical specifications, with only minor mechanical and cosmetic differences between the two vessels.

Former fleet
  • Grand Republic The name Grand Republic was previously used for an older and slightly smaller vessel built in 1983. It was built in commemoration of the ferry company's centennial, by Offshore Shipbuilding in Palatka, FL, who would also build the MV Park City 3 years later (The two boats were built to similar but not identical specifications). The slightly smaller Grand Republic had the same length as the Park City, but it was only 44 feet (13 m) wide. The old Grand Republic was sold to competitor Cross Sound Ferry in March 2003. Cross Sound Ferry renovated the vessel, renamed it the Mary Ellen and placed it back in service on their route between New London, Connecticut and Orient, New York that June, where it remains in service as of 2020.
  • SS Martha's Vineyard - Before the (1983) Grand Republic, this steel-hulled, diesel-powered ship ran seasonally (no winter service) with six round trips a day from 1968. It was built in Bath, Maine in 1923, and was previously used by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamship Authority. It was the first vessel in the company's history that was capable of carrying automobiles, having capacity for 30. It was sold in 1986 to Massachusetts Bay Lines after the MV Park City was built. Massachusetts Bay Lines intended to convert her into a dinner cruise ship, but never did, and the Martha's Vineyard was ultimately scrapped in 1990.[16]
  • Catskill - The Catskill was built in 1924 to replace the Nonowantuc, and was the first steel-hulled vessel in the company's history. It was named after the Catskill mountains in upstate New York. It was sold 1968 after the Martha's Vineyard was bought.[17]
  • Park City - A previous Park City served from 1898 through 1951. Its name was derived from the city of Bridgeport's nickname. Built for $50,000, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide/150 feet (46 m) long 898 gross tons, 800 horsepower, 15 knots. Coal (hard)powered.[18]
  • Nonowantuc - The first vessel in the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry's history, serving from 1883 to 1924. It was slightly smaller than the 1898 Park City, but also featured masts if the boilers failed.[18]
  • The 1898 Park City Ferry on a postcard
  • The MV PT Barnum at Port Jefferson Harbor
  • Port Jefferson Harbor
  • Satellite image of Bridgeport & Port Jefferson
  • The renovated cabin of the MV Park City

References
  1. "Powered by Google Docs". Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  2. Cavanaugh, Jack (August 1, 1999). "The View From/Bridgeport; With Ridership Rising, Ferry Gets a New Ship". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  3. "Crossing the Sound, the ferry's history in photographs". Northshoreoflongisland.com. 2007-02-23. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  4. "Docket No. 08-3886-cv. - BRIDGEPORT AND PORT JEFFERSON STEAMBOAT COMPANY v. BRIDGEPORT PORT AUTHORITY - US 2nd Circuit". Caselaw.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  5. Witkowski, Mary K.; Williams, Bruce (2001). Bridgeport on the Sound - Google Books. ISBN 9780738508627. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  6. Company, The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat. "The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company > About Us > A Look at the Fleet". www.88844ferry.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. "Ferry Company Awarded Fees In Court Fight–Now What?". onlyinbridgeport.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  8. "City warming up to idea Port Jeff ferry move". Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  9. "Ferry to move across Bridgeport Harbor". Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  10. Company, The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat. "Dockside Ticketing at the Ferry!". www.88844ferry.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  11. "Microsoft Word - Newsletter Page 1 - 0404.doc" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  12. Fischler, Marcelle S. (June 30, 2002). "Long Island Journal; Tug of War Over a Monument". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  13. Archived July 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  14. "Ferries Built in the U.S. since WWII". Shipbuildinghistory.com. 2009-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  15. "Ferry gets refitted with new elevator, amenities". Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  16. "Final Chapter: The Islander and Other Bygone Ferries". 1 August 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  17. A. Kisselgof. "Final chapter: The Islander and other bygone ferries". US-MA: Mvmagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  18. Long Island Genealogy. "The legendary Park City of The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company". Longislandgenealogy.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
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