At what point will the frustration of a daily traffic jam make a ferry a more appealing commuting alternative? A business owner in Jamestown is trying to gauge the interest, as frustrations mount over continuing construction on the primary bridge in and out of Newport.
Ongoing reconstruction of the Claiborne Pell Bridge has created morning and evening commuter delays. The typical four lanes are condensed to two lanes, with cars traveling in one lane each in opposite directions, on the Newport side of the bay.
The construction, which started last month, is expected to continue through June 29.
Drivers heading to Newport employers in the morning rush hour can be seen backed up across the island of Jamestown, with similar congestion heading out of the city in the evenings.
Enter Conanicut Marine Services Inc., which operates the Jamestown-Newport ferry. At the request of its president, Bill Munger, the Newport County Chamber of Commerce has distributed a survey to its followers that asks a series of questions relating to their required start and arrival times at various piers in Newport.
In an interview, Munger said he’s still trying to determine if it would make sense for him to add morning trips to his regular routes. He has a 10-acre boatyard that could serve as a parking area for commuters’ cars, but would need a shuttle bus to get the people to the ferry.
He asked the Chamber to distribute the survey after hearing from frustrated car commuters through the first week of construction. Many are employed at the U.S. Naval War College, where his two ferries do not stop, and they asked if he could add a stop.
“During that first week people were really frustrated,” Munger said.
He estimated several hundred people have responded to the survey, or called him.
Realistically, Munger said his service would appeal to downtown Newport and workers at the Naval War College. If he could get a full boat of passengers, at $7 each way, he said he could make the service work through construction.
“We’re got not quite enough people just yet,” he said. “I do think we can get enough people.”
But the R.I. Bridge and Turnpike Authority, which is managing the bridge reconstruction, thinks the ferry could work to help transport tourists, not time-pressed commuters.
“Right now, it’s a 30-minute trip from Jamestown to Newport,” said Eric Offenberg, director of engineering for RIBTA. Add in the time to get to the ferry, then the crossing, and multiple stops, and it’s more than that to get across the bay by ferry.
The R.I. Public Transit Authority is in discussions with RIBTA about providing buses to encourage more commuters to leave their cars behind, a spokeswoman said.
Offenberg said that alternative has a downside as well. “The problem is the bus is going to sit in the same traffic everyone else is,” he said.
