Recently, the City of Detroit opened its beautiful new cruise ship terminal. The terminal is a terrific way to bring more tourists to the heart of the Motor City. In addition, I believe there is another potential use for the terminal – as a commuter passenger ferry hub from waterfront suburbs to the northeast, south and across the river in Windsor, Ontario.

Detroit is fortunate to be situated along a major waterway that rarely freezes over completely in winter. Even if the Detroit River did freeze over for short periods, a commuter ferry service could easily link downtown to the suburbs such as St. Clair Shores to the northeast and Wyandotte or Trenton to the south for at least 10 months out of the year. A passenger ferry service would have the added benefit of lessening the need to widen highways or build other expensive transportation infrastructure. Let nature’s waterway be the infrastructure.

A number of cities across the continent have successful commuter ferry services, such as Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver. Many other cities along the coasts, the Great Lakes, and major river could benefit from commuter ferry services, including:

Buffalo – south suburbs and Grand Island to the north

Chicago – north suburbs such as Waukegan and Evanston and south suburbs such as Gary and Michigan City

Cincinnati – east and west suburbs along the Ohio River

Cleveland – east and west suburbs like Fairport Harbor and Lorain

Detroit – northeast and south suburbs noted above

Jacksonville – south suburbs like Orange Park

Louisville – east suburbs along the Ohio River

Miami – north and south suburbs on Biscayne Bay

Milwaukee – north and south suburbs like Port Washington and Racine

Philadelphia – northeast and southwest suburbs like Bristol and Chester

San Diego – south suburbs like Chula Vista

Tampa – west suburbs like Clearwater

Toronto – east and west suburbs like Oshawa and Mississauga

Some other river city locations may be viable for such a commuter service, but are sometimes limited by locks and dams. The suburban ferry stations for these services would also provide an economic stimulus for the communities where they locate as commuter passenger embark and debark from their trip to downtown.

I would enjoy hearing other thoughts on this idea and any stories on the success (or lack thereof) for such a commuter service.