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Mayport Ferry
Foundering
 Jacksonville may cut off funding for the Mayport Ferry after 2007. |
Falling ridership and rising costs are threatening to sink Jacksonville's 58- year-old Mayport Ferry, which crosses the St. Johns River and connects Fort George Island to Mayport. Many of the commuters are Navy personnel heading to Mayport Naval Station, beaches residents traveling to jobs on Amelia Island or Fernandina Beach or tourists. But with the city's share of operating the two-ship service expected to be close to $750,000, Mayor John Peyton has raised the possibility of eliminating funding after next year.
The city estimates the ferry will cost $1.8 million to run through 2007. Fares should bring in $1.1 million, leaving a deficit of $738,060 for the city. Maintenance runs between $80,000 and $120,000 per vessel every 16 to 18 months.
Nearby business owners cringe at the thought of the city killing the service. Restaurant owners say that ferry passengers account for up to 40% of their business. Dozens of other businesses say they depend on the ferry to provide a steady customer base. The Vestcor Cos., which recently announced a plan to build The Mayport Village, a 2.5-acre mixed-use development that is expected to spark revitalization efforts in Mayport, says an end to ferry service would severely impact the project.
City Council member Elaine Brown formed the Mayport Ferry Subcommittee to help identify future funding sources, including fare increases, and the Mayport Waterfront Partnership has discussed establishing a ferry authority to oversee funding alternatives such as state and federal grants. "The most important thing is to establish that we need it, and we need to do everything we can to keep it," Brown says.
John Reyes, president and CEO of the Jacksonville & the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau, calls the ferry a regional transportation issue that impacts residents from Nassau County to St. Johns County. "Just imagine trying to do a traffic study to support the retail," says Vestcor President and CEO Mark Farrell. "You take the ferry away, the traffic is zero."
