CITY HALL -- Staten Island Ferry riders will be able to board on the lower level at both terminals this September for the first time in 13 years.

Lower-level boarding will start at Whitehall Terminal in September. Passengers entering St. George Terminal from the kiss-and-ride will also be able to board on the lower level during the morning rush hour between 7 and 9 a.m. starting that month.

Lower-level boarding is part of a larger plan Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday to reduce congestion at both terminals, particularly before ferry ridership surges amid the North Shore's redevelopment.

"It's not only going to be about people's comfort, it's going to help the boats stay on schedule, to make sure people can move along much more easily," de Blasio said from the lower level of St. George.

Right now only passengers who are disabled or have bicycles can board from the lower levels at both terminals. Ferry riders on both sides typically converge and crowd in front of a single door on the upper level that they're allowed to use for boarding.

'WALKING DEAD' BOARDING SHUFFLE

"I don't think you really have to move, you can kind of just get pushed along with the traffic," Capt. James DeSimone, the ferry's chief operations officer, said.

"It's the shuffle of like the walking dead when you all get sort of pushed into one opening," Borough President James Oddo said. "In the beginning of a long work day, at the end of a long work week, to endure sort of being treated almost like cattle all trying to go in the same direction is just an added burden, and this is a small victory but an important one for Staten Island Ferry riders."

Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) stressed the ferry isn't an "amenity."

"It is a necessity for the commuters of Staten Island," she said.

De Blasio rode the ferry from Whitehall Terminal to the announcement. He posed for selfies and spoke with Staten Islanders and other riders.

The mayor crowded with other riders in front of door three before boarding the 10:30 a.m. John J. Marchi boat from the upper level of Whitehall.

"More and more there's a crowding issue when folks get on the ferry," he said. "Some of you were with me this morning, you saw people waiting to get on, huge crowd develops."

De Blasio refused to take questions about lower-level boarding after making the announcement.

ST. GEORGE CROWDING

The Department of Transportation, or DOT, will collect data to measure the effectiveness of lower-level boarding on the Staten Island side, according to the mayor's office.

While a press release described this as a "lower-level boarding pilot" at St. George, city officials said there was no distinction between the two terminals except that the Staten Island side will be limited to the morning rush hour and there may be additional phases of implementation later on.

DOT is also conducting a study on improving passenger circulation in the main waiting room at St. George Terminal.

In May, the city will start opening multiple boarding doors on a trial basis to decrease the bottlenecks that routinely develop.

"We recognize that you have hundreds and hundreds of people trying to squeeze through just a few doors, particularly a challenge during rush hours," de Blasio said.

$2 MILLION EFFORT

DOT will also undertake a "longer-term capital study" on options to build out lower-level boarding permanently. The 18-month study is expected to begin this summer and will integrate resiliency work that's already planned for the terminals.

All these efforts are expected to cost $2 million the fiscal year beginning in July, according to the mayor's office.

Opening up lower-level boarding at Whitehall Terminal alone was expected to cost taxpayers $607,000 a year. Doing so was also said to save around $9.3 million DOT would would otherwise have to spend increasing ferry service.

UPDATED SAFETY PLAN

Vehicles haven't been allowed on the Staten Island Ferry since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

DOT ended lower-level boarding for passengers in July 2004 as part of a new safety plan approved by the U.S. Coast Guard following the passage of the federal Maritime Transportation Security Act in 2002.

Additional federal regulations required that all embarking passengers must be separate from those disembarking. The DOT said lower levels in both Staten Island Ferry terminals were also designated as "restricted areas" and weren't accessible to the public without a security regime in place.

The city will increase security on the lower levels so that embarking and disembarking passengers will remain separate as is required under federal law. This will include additional closed-circuit security cameras.

WHITEHALL EASIER TO IMPLEMENT

Lower level boarding will be cheaper and easier to implement at Whitehall because that terminal has a smaller footprint than St. George. Whitehall's footprint is 12,000 square feet, while St. George's is 60,000 square feet.

"This is a little bit more challenging," DeSimone said from the lower level of St. George.

The city said there are "several challenges" that DOT must address during implementation. While DeSimone said this roll-out should be "pretty seamless," curb modifications and fencing will be installed at some point.

The plan for Whitehall Terminal was among a series of measures proposed by the city to reduce congestion and accommodate a slew of upcoming redevelopment projects alongside old infrastructure on the North Shore. In the last few months, city officials decided to also try lower-level boarding at St. George to address congestion.

NEEDS FEDERAL OK

The U.S. Coast Guard must approve any changes to lower-level boarding.

DeSimone said DOT will submit a plan to the Coast Guard for review within the next month or so. The Coast Guard was already working with the city on the proposal in November.

"We've already discussed it preliminarily with them and as long as we put in the additional security and other aspects to the security plan we don't expect any problems," DeSimone said.

De Blasio also increased Staten Island Ferry service under a 2013 Council law from Oddo. The mayor said these measures were ultimately intended to improve Staten Island commutes, though not necessarily make them shorter.

"They've always had one of the longest commutes in the city, it's our job to make it better," de Blasio said. "Even if it's still a long commute, to make it a better commute and a more reliable commute, and easier on everyone involved."

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