New York City is again looking for a company to run its ferry service — and wants the winner of the next contract to contribute more revenue rather than receive millions of dollars in subsidies to keep the service afloat.
The city’s Economic Development Corporation, which oversees NYC Ferry, posted a request for proposals on Wednesday looking for a potential replacement for current operator Hornblower Group, whose contract is up next September.
Applicants will have to include a “revenue generation plan” focused on offsetting costs and EDC is inviting “creative thinking from private sector respondents” on how to make it sustainable, according to the request posted in the City Record.
EDC will favor the proposals with revenue plans that funnel the most money back to the city, the agency wrote.
The expiring contract includes revenue sharing on the boat’s concessions and interior media ads, as well as the fares based on total ridership and revenue numbers, noted a spokesperson for Hornblower, which plans to put in a new bid.
“Today, no other operator is better prepared to build upon the system’s early success and implement the vision to create a more equitable and accessible NYC Ferry,” Kevin Rabbitt, the CEO of Hornblower Group, said in a statement to THE CITY on Wednesday.
8 comments:
Use the Drag Queen money !
Boats are for communists!
Look how Ed Koch turned Lindsay's blue aluminum bus shelters into a profit center: franchise everything and sell ads. Don't tell them what kind of boats to use, let them use hydrofoils or whatnot. Let them innovate.
We don't expect the subways to turn a profit; why do we expect it from ferries?
Why don’t they just replace the river with a big load of concrete. Free car storage on top.
Titanic II
Right now, NYC Ferry is $2.75 per ride. Last I looked, it was hundreds of millions in the red annually. Someone who has the stats can do the math, but it's pretty clear the fare would have be a multiple of the current cost to close the gap. Glen Cove has been planning on a ferry to NYC. They even built a terminal and a dock. But no one will undertake the service, since it is estimated they'd have to charge $41 a ride to break even. NYC didn't worry about it, they just subsidized everything. To turn around now and just demand it make money for the City is ridiculous. If it costs $10, $20 or more to ride, no one will use the service. If the City is serious about this being a requirement for ferry service, then they've decided to kill the ferry. That's fine, but why didn't they think of this before?
Easy, start charging freeloading car owners for storing their cars on the street. Use the money on public transport.
Problem solved.
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