The FERRY alternative

Sunshine and warm temperatures often can be reason enough for a ferry ride. But these days, saving time and money as well as avoiding traffic aggravation have become larger parts of that calculation.

In Bob Guarriello’s case, the Southold electrician sometimes uses the Shelter Island ferries almost as bridges to get to his jobs on the South Fork. As fuel prices rise, it saves him miles and, frequently, precious time.

“Fuelwise, yeah, this helps,” Guarriello said during a recent ferry trip with his family to watch his daughter play softball on Shelter Island. “From the shop it can be 10 miles one way instead of 30 miles.”

As the busiest season for Long Island ferries approaches, companies are expecting rising fuel prices will prove to be both a help and a burden to their businesses. During past surges in energy prices and fuel shortages, ferries and local tourism benefited from workers such as Guarriello and consumers vacationing close to home, both looking to reduce expenses, those in the ferry industry say. Adding larger, newer ferries has also improved services, providing another reason to travel by boat.

But the price of diesel fuel has spiked four to five times for ferry companies in four years, stretching budgets thin. The increases prove even more drastic because some ferry rates are regulated by the county legislature and haven’t been raised for periods as long as four years.

“Just four years ago diesel fuel was 85 cents a gallon,” said Cliff Clark, who, with his wife, Tish, and his brother, William Clark II, operates the South Ferry Co. Inc. “Now it’s $4.10 and we’re buying it in 8,000-gallon bulk…. That revenue is strained.”

Companies use different ways to cope with rising fuel costs. The strategies help but won’t make up for the entire cost increase, operators said. Some companies have raised fares 10 percent to 15 percent, and others have added fuel surcharges. Ferry captains have conserved fuel by using the wind and sailing with the tide, and by shifting the way they dock.

The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. raised its fares by about 10 percent in May, vice president and general manager Frederick Hall said.

“We rolled our best guess into the rate, and with any luck we’ll be able to hold it,” Hall said. “I know some companies have thought about adjusting rates on a monthly basis, but I’d rather not do that.”

Raising rates is a much more difficult process for companies like the Davis Park Ferry Co., which provides transportation between Patchogue and Fire Island; the South Ferry Co., which goes from Shelter Island to North Haven; and the North Ferry Co. Inc., which travels between the north end of Shelter Island and Greenport. Their fares are regulated by the Suffolk County Legislature in an application process that takes several months.

“A lot of businesses can pass through the rising prices in fuel,” said Bridg Hunt, a general manager of the North Ferry Co. “Where our rates are regulated by the county, we’re exactly like a hardworking family that can’t increase our top line.”

Every little bit counts, so ferry managers encourage their captains to conserve as much fuel as possible within reason. Slightly cutting speed without compromising the ferry schedule helps, ferry managers said. The North Ferry Co. has been testing various strategies - including sailing with the wind and tide - to reduce fuel usage. One captain managed to reduce fuel consumption about 25 percent in one quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago, Hunt noted.

“It’s the volume that will help us,” said Charles Sherman, president of the Davis Park Ferry Co., which hopes to have a rate increase approved by July.

Rising energy prices also could have an upside for ferry companies. Many managers are hoping that consumers pressed by high fuel prices will do what they did in the past: forgo travel to faraway lands for local attractions and use the ferries to reduce travel time, distance and sometimes transportation costs.

Clark noted that summer rentals appear to be doing well and Suffolk’s project to widen County Road 39 will make a difference for customers coming through Southampton to Shelter Island. Delivery workers, landscapers, restaurant staff and other tradespeople have avoided using the ferry on the southern end of Shelter Island because congestion on County Road 39 could delay them by up to an hour and a half, he said.

“They had to get paid to sit in line, and that was costing business owners a lot of wage hours,” Clark said. “To sit in line for an hour, hour and a half, every day, someone was paying for it, and it was usually the customer.”

More and more ferry customers have been using the ferries as a shortcut, North Ferry Capt. Alfred Von Hassel said.

“Before, it was a trade-off and you could sit in a ferry line or you could sit in traffic,” Von Hassel said. “. . . Now we’ve got three big boats and better service, so people are using this like a bridge.”

Another sign that fuel prices are making the ferry an attractive option: More truck drivers are using them.

“We’ve seen an increase in truck and tractor-trailer traffic over the last couple of months due to the fuel costs,” said Capt. Frank Moore of Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. Driving from Connecticut to Long Island would take “over an hour, and that’s under the most-ideal conditions.”
Aside from cost savings, the perks of ferry rides are clear to those who work on them.

“Every day you see something that blows your mind,” Glenn Waddington, a South Ferry Co. captain, said. “It might be a deer swimming across … an awesome sunrise or moonrise.”

The bonus of the natural scenery and the momentary escape from the aggravations of land travel is not lost upon ferry commuters, whether traveling for work or pleasure.

Karen and Rodney Stengle of Selden said they took the day off for a pleasant ferry diversion. They said they are considering more ferry trips.

“It’s not driving and burning up gas as expensive as it is,” Rodney Stengle said.

Using the ferry between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson as a shortcut in her business trip from Fairfield to The Hamptons is a no-brainer, Brittany Darden said. Although it’s expensive to ride the ferry with her car, she’s still saving money and potentially hours, she said.

“Who in their right mind wouldn’t use it as a shortcut instead of multiple highways and filling up?” she said.

THE FERRY OPTION

Here is a sampling of local ferry fares. Call for schedules and

specific fares, especially for

children and senior citizens.

BRIDGEPORT & PORT JEFFERSON STEAMBOAT CO.

Port Jefferson-Bridgeport, Conn.; 631-473-0286

Auto and driver one-way: $51

Auto and unlimited passengers

one-way: $67

Foot passenger: $17-$25

CROSS SOUND FERRY

Orient Point to New London, Conn.; 631-323-2525

Auto and driver one-way: $46 plus $4.83 fuel surcharge

Each passenger, $14 plus $1.47 fuel surcharge

Foot passenger: $14-$24, plus $2.52 fuel surcharge

Express high-speed

passenger-only ferry

Adult one-way: $19.50 plus $2.05 fuel surcharge

Adult same-day round-trip: $31.50 plus $3.25 fuel surcharge

VIKING FERRIES

High-speed passenger service, Montauk-Block Island, R.I.; 631-668-5709

one-way: $40; round-trip: $70

NORTH FERRY CO.

Shelter Island to, from Greenport; 631-749-0139

Auto and driver one-way: $9

Auto and additional passengers each way, $2 each

Foot passenger each way: $2

Auto and driver, same-day

round-trip: $13

SOUTH FERRY CO.

Shelter Island to North Haven; 631-749-1200

Auto and driver one-way: $12

Seatbelted passengers in vehicle: free

Foot passenger each way: $1

Auto, same-day round-trip: $15

DAVIS PARK FERRY CO.

Passenger service between Patchogue and Davis Park and Watch Hill on Fire Island; no cars or bicycles on island; 631-475-1665

Adult one-way: $7; round-trip: $14

Fire Island FERRIES

Passenger service between Bay Shore and Kismet, Saltaire, Fair Harbor, Dunewood/Atlantique, Ocean Beach, Seaview, Ocean Bay Park; 631-665-3600

Adult one-way: $8; round-trip $15

DAVIS PARK FERRY

Passenger service from Patchogue to Davis Park and Watch Hill (on Fire Island); no cars or bicycles allowed on island; 631-475-1665

One-way: $8; one-way at 1 a.m: $15

Round-trip: $15

SAYVILLE FERRY SERVICE

Passenger service between Sayville and Cherry Grove, Fire Island Pines, Sunken Forrest, Water Island on Fire Island; 631-589-0810

Cherry Grove and Fire Island Fares

One-way: $7.25; round-trip: $14

Sunken Forrest Fares:

One-way: $6.50; round-trip: $12

Water Island Fares

One-way: $12; round-trip: $22

BY KEIKO MORRIS

Newsday