Post by ferryfast admin on Feb 11, 2006 1:34:14 GMT -5
Port Jefferson ferry flap causes delays
BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN
STAFF WRITER
NEWSDAY
www.newsday.com/
February 10, 2006
A legal dispute between the Port Jefferson ferry and its Connecticut landlord, the Bridgeport Port Authority, is causing lengthy delays for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use the Connecticut terminal each year.
Both parties admit the situation has created a serious inconvenience for ferry passengers. But each side blames the other for the problem.
The dispute centers around whether the port authority can impose a $1 a head tariff - on top of the existing surcharge - on every ferry passenger to pay the cost of defending itself against a federal lawsuit challenging its existing surcharge that the ferry company filed against it in 2003.
The authority claims it is spending about $200,000 per year in legal fees. When the ferry refused to collect the surcharge, the authority set up its own toll station at the ferry terminal to collect the money, causing lengthy backups.
When ferries from Long Island unload in Bridgeport, the delay at the one-lane road leading out can grow to a half hour or longer - bad news for the million passengers a year who use the ferry. The new toll gate went up on Feb. 1, and could turn into a nightmare when the ferry service gets more crowded in the summer.
For Charles Taft of North Branford, Conn., who was the 40th vehicle in the line, the delay was about 20 minutes. Every car or truck in front of him added a half a minute to his wait. "This didn't bother me coming to Long Island, but I'm going home. I just want to get out of here," he said on Wednesday.
The authority says it has no choice but to set up its own toll collectors. With a million passengers taking the ferry each year, the authority expects to collect around $600,000 annually from its new tariff, but will spend about $200,000 on the toll-takers and for the police overtime required on site.
The lawsuit between the authority and the ferry company will eventually be heard in U.S. District Court in Hartford.
The ferry company has been collecting the old tariff for the BPA, but under protest. "The increases led us to conclude that the BPA felt it could raise the tariff at any time for any purpose," said Frederick A. Hall, vice president and general manager of The Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Co.
BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN
STAFF WRITER
NEWSDAY
www.newsday.com/
February 10, 2006
A legal dispute between the Port Jefferson ferry and its Connecticut landlord, the Bridgeport Port Authority, is causing lengthy delays for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use the Connecticut terminal each year.
Both parties admit the situation has created a serious inconvenience for ferry passengers. But each side blames the other for the problem.
The dispute centers around whether the port authority can impose a $1 a head tariff - on top of the existing surcharge - on every ferry passenger to pay the cost of defending itself against a federal lawsuit challenging its existing surcharge that the ferry company filed against it in 2003.
The authority claims it is spending about $200,000 per year in legal fees. When the ferry refused to collect the surcharge, the authority set up its own toll station at the ferry terminal to collect the money, causing lengthy backups.
When ferries from Long Island unload in Bridgeport, the delay at the one-lane road leading out can grow to a half hour or longer - bad news for the million passengers a year who use the ferry. The new toll gate went up on Feb. 1, and could turn into a nightmare when the ferry service gets more crowded in the summer.
For Charles Taft of North Branford, Conn., who was the 40th vehicle in the line, the delay was about 20 minutes. Every car or truck in front of him added a half a minute to his wait. "This didn't bother me coming to Long Island, but I'm going home. I just want to get out of here," he said on Wednesday.
The authority says it has no choice but to set up its own toll collectors. With a million passengers taking the ferry each year, the authority expects to collect around $600,000 annually from its new tariff, but will spend about $200,000 on the toll-takers and for the police overtime required on site.
The lawsuit between the authority and the ferry company will eventually be heard in U.S. District Court in Hartford.
The ferry company has been collecting the old tariff for the BPA, but under protest. "The increases led us to conclude that the BPA felt it could raise the tariff at any time for any purpose," said Frederick A. Hall, vice president and general manager of The Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Co.