Ferries Lie Tantalizingly Beyond Reach as Hudson Tunnels Decay
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New Jersey rail commuters have at least a 10-year wait for a faster trip under the Hudson River to Manhattan. Ferries could do much of the job right now.
First, though, riders would have to be brought to the docks, a Herculean task in a state with a mass-transit system so strapped it’s raising fares, and a roadwork fund on the brink of insolvency. Commuter boats run at just 25 percent of capacity, with room for 100,000 more daily passengers. The state has no long-range plans to expand access or subsidize tickets, even as the shutdown of rail tunnels for repairs looms and New York increases water transportation among its boroughs.