by David Ball
Staff Writer
It’s official. The Jacksonville Port Authority announced this week that fares for the Mayport ferry will increase for almost all users while hours of operation will decrease starting Nov. 1.
Fares for passenger cars, for example, will increase from $3.25 to $5, and scheduled ferries will be scaled back from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and to 8:30 p.m. weekends.
“We apologize to people who use this regularly who may be inconvenienced,” said Nancy Rubin, director of public relations and communications for the Port. “But at the same time, we are run as a business in JaxPort, and something needed to be done.”
The news should come as little surprise to some, as Port officials warned that such changes would be necessary after they assumed control of the ferry operation from the City on Oct. 1 when funding was cut during the recent budget cycle.
The ferry connects A1A across the St. Johns River between Mayport Village and Ft. George Island. The nearest alternate north-south route is on 9A/I-295 over the Dames Point Bridge and adds a nearly 20-mile commute.
Although the ferry has existed in some form since 1948, it currently carries a maximum of 40 mid-size cars and 199 passengers aboard the main boat, the Jean Ribault, and a maximum of 44 mid-size cars and 201 passengers aboard the standby ferry Blackbeard.
At the end of the 2006-07 fiscal year, the ferry also carried with it more than $1 million in deficits in its $1.8 million budget, according to Port figures. With the City covering the deficit, Port officials agreed to operate the ferry for at least one year with hopes of streamlining the operation and helping it to operate on a balanced budget, or even turn a small profit.
Tony Orsini, the Port’s senior director of cruise and ferry operations, said he doesn’t expect to be in the black until possibly a third year under the Port’s supervision.
“It’s going to operate in the red for at least the first year, maybe two years,” said Orsini. “I haven’t found a ferry system in this United States that operates in the black yet.”
Orsini said the increased fares should add $440,000 in additional revenue, bumping up the projected 2007-08 revenues to $1.44 million, but still more than $300,000 short of projected expenses.
One problem is decreasing usage of the ferry, which had ridership drop from more than 450,000 fares in 2003 to less than 380,000 in 2006 – a revenue decrease of $227,000 – with the biggest drop-offs occurring during the late hours.
“We did the analysis and those were the hours of operation (8 to 10 p.m.) that seemed to be the worst for ridership,” said Fred Berley, general manager for Hornblower Marine Services, which staffs and operates the ferry.
“It could be 24 cars total during that whole timeframe,” he added, “and that doesn’t make it worth our while.”
Rubin said the Port may be able to save an additional $45,000 per year through its ability to buy diesel fuel cheaply in bulk.
While the changes may help get the ferry back on a balanced financial track, they may also turn away more users and result in even more decreases in revenue.
“We anticipate there may be a few people driving around instead of paying the additional fare,” said Rubin. “It’s so popular, we would hope people would understand that in order to save the service, these changes needed to happen.”
