Port Alden's ferry operator will cut service to three round trips a day starting November 1, down from the current five, citing rising fuel costs and winter ridership that has fallen for three years running. Harborline Ferries announced the change Wednesday in a notice posted at the terminal and mailed to monthly pass holders.
Under the new schedule, boats will depart Port Alden at 6:15 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 5:45 p.m., dropping the 8:40 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. runs that Harborline says carried the fewest riders last winter. The company said the change will run through March, when it plans to restore the fuller schedule for the spring season.
Harborline general manager Colin Baptiste said diesel costs for the fleet's two boats have risen about 40 percent since last winter, while average winter ridership has dropped to roughly a third of what the route carries in summer. "We looked at cutting a boat from the fleet entirely, and this was the option that kept us running through the season instead," Baptiste said.
Commuters say the math doesn't work for them
The cuts fall hardest on riders who use the ferry to commute, several of whom said the remaining schedule doesn't line up with typical shift hours on the mainland side. Nurse Odalys Feng, who works a 7 a.m. shift at Harborview Medical, said dropping the 8:40 a.m. run doesn't affect her, but losing the 3:15 p.m. departure means a nearly three-hour wait after her shift ends.
"I either leave work early and lose pay, or I sit in the terminal for three hours," Feng said. "There's nothing in between anymore."
Baptiste said Harborline has heard similar complaints from about a dozen riders since the notice went out and is reviewing whether a fourth, later trip could be added back without adding a second boat. The company receives a modest annual subsidy from the town but is not a municipal service, meaning the town council has no formal vote over the schedule.
