Lower level ferry boarding makes commuting life easier 26 Gallery: Lower level ferry boarding makes commuting life easier

CITY HALL -- Staten Island Ferry commuters hoped that lower level boarding will save them time and ease crowding after the city brought it back to both terminals on Monday.

"I was running a little late today -- now I'm here and I'm going to make the boat for sure," Clifton resident Carin James, 23, said before embarking from the lower level at St. George Terminal.

Lower level boarding hasn't been allowed for most ferry passengers since 2004 when new federal regulations increased security following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Passengers entering St. George from the kiss-and-ride will be able to board on the lower level from 6:40 to 9 a.m. on weekdays, according to the Department of Transportation, or DOT. Lower level boarding will be allowed at Whitehall from 12 to 8 p.m. both weekdays and weekends.

"It will help the commute big-time," James said. "Because those people who are running, sometimes that trip up the escalators wastes a couple minutes and by the time you get upstairs you have to walk across, the doors might be closing, versus being down here already, you can just run right in, go on the boat."

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

Lower-level boarding at Whitehall is accessed through the main entrance on the first floor. Large white arrows and "Lower Level Boarding" direct passengers where they're supposed to go, on either side of the middle escalators.

On the Staten Island side, the lower level is only accessible from a single, narrow pathway to the left and behind the south lobby entrance where riders take the escalator, elevator or stairs up to the main concourse.

"My husband drops me off at the ferry in the morning and it's more of a direct entrance to get onto the ferry if I just stay on the lower level. Sometimes the elevators are broken or the escalators are down," West Brighton resident Marie Disilvestro, 67, said before boarding from the lower level just before 7 a.m. Monday. "For those of us that get picked up at the ferry it's much easier."

FEW RIDERS BOARD ON LOWER LEVEL

The door to the lower level waiting area opens at 6:40 a.m. for the boat at 7.

Though a large blue sign with a thick white arrow next to the south lobby door declares when and where riders can use the lower level at St. George, many still sprinted up the escalators to catch boats early Monday.

DOT said 38 pedestrians and 17 cyclists used the lower level to board the 7 a.m. boat from St. George on Monday. Riders with bicycles always have to board on the lower level. On the second trip with lower level boarding, at 7:15 a.m., 16 pedestrians and 12 cyclists embarked from there.

This is a very small share of the hundreds of riders who usually take the ferry at those times.

The 7 a.m. boat carried an average 1,452 passengers during September of last year, according to ridership data. The next one at 7:15 a.m. carried an average 1,227 passengers during September of last year.

"Staten Islanders tend to like to take the lower level, as opposed to the upper level, we leave that to like the tourists," DOT Borough Commissioner Tom Cocola said. "Once everybody's aware of this direct route, aware of the time issues...I think you'll see bigger crowds as we come in the next weeks."

MAY HELP TARDY RIDERS

Those who did use the lower level Monday predicted smoother commutes and less rushing.

"It'll especially help on the other side coming home, because we always miss the ferry by like 3 minutes, 2 minutes," New Brighton resident Josephine Weiss, 31, said.

Her husband, Michael Weiss, 35, added, "We always just miss it when we reach the top part. If we didn't have to do the escalator, we always woulda made it."

Staten Island Ferry Chief Operations Officer Capt. James DeSimone cautioned tardy riders that security is still in place.

"If someone thinks they're gonna just run through at the last minute, those same security requirements remain in place. So it's not as if someone can just run through the lower level down to the boat," DeSimone said. "We have to basically close the gates, close the boarding down here in time to keep the ferry on schedule. So passengers should not just assuming they're going to run through the lower level because it is a restricted area."

HEIGHTENED SECURITY

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 follwing 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.

As part of an updated safety plan approved by the Coast Guard, the city increased security on the lower levels so that embarking and disembarking passengers will remain separate as is required under federal law.

Staten Islanders who remember taking the ferry before lower level boarding ended 13 years ago were particularly excited Monday.

"It makes it a lot easier to get one the boat," West Brighton resident Billie Jacobsen, 52, said. "I sit downstairs so it's easier to get off on the other side for me."

$2M TERMINAL CONGESTION PLAN

Lower level boarding is part of a larger, $2 million plan to reduce congestion at both terminals.

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.

The plan for Whitehall Terminal was among a series of measures proposed by the city last year to reduce congestion and accommodate a slew of upcoming redevelopment projects alongside old infrastructure on the North Shore.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and city officials decided to also try lower-level boarding at St. George to address congestion and after pressuring from Borough President James Oddo and others.

"These changes will get ferries from the docks a bit faster and reduce congestion at the ferry terminals during the busiest times of the day," de Blasio said in a statement.

"Since 9/11, it's been a very crowded situation, we've been concerned about safety," Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said from the lower level Monday morning. "The fact that DOT has found a way to ensure our safety and expedite the boarding process makes this a good day for Staten Islanders."

Officials said in April DOT will collect data to measure the effectiveness of lower-level boarding at St. George and that the hours may expand later on.

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