With the clock ticking for the City to find a new funding source for the St. Johns River Ferry, the Florida Department of Transportation released a ridership survey aimed at finding out who rides the ferry and why.
The survey, taken on four days in March and April, showed the purpose of the riders’ trips on the ferry, which crosses the St. Johns River at Mayport.
Among the findings:
• The highest percentage of respondents, 1,391, or 46.4 percent, said they used the ferry for a social/recreational trip. Most of those trips were to visit Huguenot Park, Talbot Island, Amelia Island and trips to beaches along the Atlantic Ocean.
The restaurants on the Mayport side of the river are affected by the ferry operations. The survey showed that 68 of the social/recreational trips were headed to Singleton’s Seafood Shack and other seafood restaurants in the area.
• The second largest use was 876 riders, or 29.2 percent, traveling for work. BAE Systems has facilities on both sides of the river and represented the largest single employer generating work trips. The survey found that 292 riders were making a trip to or from a BAE facility.
• The third most popular use was tourism, with 438 riders, or 14.6 percent. Tourism was defined as a trip made by a patron that clearly indicated the purpose was tourism or a trip that started or ended from outside the four-county region of Clay, Duval, Nassau or St. Johns that was specified by the patron as either “Social/Rec” or “Tourism.”
One of the more telling questions that addressed the FDOT’s desire to find out how critical the ferry was to the area was, “Would you make this trip if the ferry were not here?”
Of 3,025 responses, 1,841 people, or 61 percent, said yes.
“I remain committed to trying to save the ferry,” said state Rep. Janet Adkins (R-Fernandina Beach).
“I think it is important to recognize that, especially for people who use it for work-related purposes, there is going to be additional traffic on the roadways that will contribute to congestion and cause additional road repair and maintenance if the ferry is not available,” she said
The Jacksonville Port Authority voted earlier this year to stop operating the ferry at the end of the current fiscal year, Sept. 30, because annual operating deficits and needed repairs were diverting money from the port’s core businesses, said Port CEO Paul Anderson at a Feb. 27 board of directors meeting.
The port reports $600,000 in annual operating losses from the ferry. In addition, a recent engineering report for the ferry docking system listed $4 million in repairs that need to be made immediately. The JPA had budgeted only $850,000 for capital improvements for the ferry in fiscal 2012, not expecting such a large capital improvement project.
The state transportation department volunteered to conduct the survey to find out how critical the ferry was to the area while local and state legislators, as well as community leaders, search for a new funding source.
The St. Johns River Ferry Patron Survey was conducted Thursday, March 29; Sunday, April 1; Tuesday, April 10; and Saturday, April 14.
The dates were chosen to provide a balance of weekdays and weekend days. Surveyors questioned 3,157 people in the parking lots at the ferry and on the ferry, recording 3,025 responses.
“I was surprised at the 14 percent tourism ridership in light of the fact that it is one of the best-kept secrets in Jacksonville. This is an opportunity to expand the use of it. People coming down (Interstate) 95 have no idea it’s there. We need to advertise it more,” said Bill Gulliford, City Council member and chair of the Council Ad Hoc Committee on Funding the St. Johns River Ferry.
Gulliford co-sponsored legislation with Council member John Crescimbeni to create the seven-member St. Johns River Ferry Commission.
If a funding source is found to continue operation of the ferry, the commission will be the government body responsible for it.
Gulliford said the ad hoc committee will meet at 3 p.m. June 6 to discuss the survey findings and funding.
Gov. Rick Scott has said that he would consider using state money to fund the ferry, but he wanted to see the results of the survey first.
“It’s a tough spot right now. The budget is in and (Scott) would have to take money away from something else to fund this,” said Gulliford.
He acknowledged there hasn’t been a commitment from the governor’s office, but the commission and legislative and community leaders are working to develop a funding proposal.
“Our proposal to the state will be, ‘If we come up with ‘X’ dollars, will you be willing to match?’ It’s not an easy task to bring them to that point,” said Gulliford.
Survey takers also were given the opportunity to comment about how to improve the ferry. Out of 409 patrons that answered, the largest percentage suggested changing the schedule, generally with fewer midday runs and longer evening hours.
Raising the price to help offset the cost of operating the ferry was the second most prevalent suggestion.
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St. Johns River Ferry survey
Purpose of the trip
Recorded responses: 2,997
| Reason | Number | Percentage |
| Social/recreational | 1,391 | 46.4% |
| Work/employer | 876 | 29.2% |
| Tourism | 438 | 14.6% |
| Other | 128 | 4.3% |
| Shopping | 82 | 2.7% |
| Non-home based trips | 82 | 2.7% |
Suggestions to improve the ferry
Total responses: 409
| Suggestions | Number | Percentage |
| Change the schedule | 103 | 25.2% |
| Raise the price | 82 | 20.0% |
| Funding | 57 | 13.9% |
| Operations | 49 | 12.0% |
| Promotion | 35 | 8.6% |
| Fee collection options | 31 | 7.6% |
| Amenities | 27 | 6.6% |
| Lower the price | 25 | 6.1% |
Would you make the trip if the ferry were not here?
Total responses: 3,025
| Yes | 1,841 | 61% |
| No | 1,184 | 39% |
Source: St. Johns River Ferry Patron Survey