Water Transportation Planning for Eastern Massachusetts: a strategic Assessment of Passenger Ferry Services
Figure 7-2 Massachusetts Bay Services
Download 4.59 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Vessels and Schedules
|
Figure 7-2 Massachusetts Bay Services 
The route tested in this evaluation is the primary route only, based on the demonstration project finding that Salem to Downtown ridership was much higher than Harbor Islands or Logan. Commuter demand for a stop in South Boston may be sufficient at a later date, depending on the job market there when the waterfront buildout is more substantially complete. The service area for this ferry would include residents and visitors within a 10 to 15 minute walking distance and residents within a 15 minute driving distance by automobile or bus, shown by the two concentric circles in Salem on Figure 7.2. The larger circle represents an estimated 15 minute driving radius, while the smaller circle represents a 10 minute walking radius. While the circles are similar for the Blaney Street and Central Wharf sites, the circles are drawn from the Blaney Street location. Planning for this service should include consideration of shuttle buses for: 1) the Salem commuter rail station to allow people to take a late train back and return to the ferry parking lot; and 2) feeder buses from Salem and Beverly as intermodal links to reduce auto dependency.
Schedule and vessels The vessel(s) selected for analysis is the Flying Cloud, as stated in 7.1.4. Several schedule variations were considered for the Salem route as shown in Table 7.1. The primary route for evaluation purposes consisted of Salem to downtown on weekdays, with an additional stop at the Harbor Islands during seasonal weekends and weekday off peak hours. Two boats would be required for both the year round and seasonal services to attract commuters. With a 30 to 35 knot catamaran departing from Blaney Street, the trip time would be 55 minutes, with a cycle time of one hour, 55 minutes. The two schedules considered were: Seasonal service. Peak commuter hours, Salem to downtown, at 60 minute headways (two vessels required). Weekday and weekend off peak service to downtown and the Harbor Islands at 2 hr 30 min headways (one vessel required). Year-round service. Peak commuter hours, Salem to downtown, at 60 minute headways (2 vessels required). Seasonal weekday and weekend off peak service to downtown and the Harbor Islands at 2 hr 30 min headways (one vessel required). Table 7-2 Vessels and SchedulesSalem – Boston Service
Terminal infrastructure The infrastructure elements for a Salem terminal as a commuter origin and visitor destination would include: Waterside Terminal Needs Deck Facility with ADA Access Channel and Fairway Approaches Landside Terminal Needs Terminal support: sheltered waiting and ticketing Auto and bus drop-off Parking: Autos, bicycles, busses The two alternative terminal sites considered in Salem Harbor were the existing Central Wharf Landing at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, and the Blaney Street site further east a the proposed site of a future town pier. Central Wharf currently has a city-owned landing that meets ADA access requirements. The landing is in a protected basin between two wharves with minimal exposure to harbor wave action. The landing is a floating structure which has a series of short landing platforms to accommodate different vessel loading heights, but has no bow loading capability and a limited length for tie up and layover. The float does not appear to be appropriate for relocation to the Blaney Street site without substantial additions and/or modifications. The National Park Service may have an interest in providing a landing within their site as a contribution to the project and a enhancement to the maritime uses of the site. Capital improvements needed for the infrastructure at Central Wharf would consist of the following to accommodate the proposed route: Berthing dolphins to compensate for the short float face length ($50K). Landside waiting shelter, walkways, lighting and auto/bus drop-off. Parking for approximately 300 cars (depending on the demand): to be designated within existing structures or new lots within a 5 minute walk of the landing ($250K). Blaney Street was used as the site of the demonstration service and the subsequent private seasonal operation. The existing parking area could accommodate 250-300 cars and a drop-off if resurfaced and re-striped. The former privately owned landing float did not meet ADA standards, and a compliant replacement landing would be required. Planning for the landing area would need to be to be coordinated with the city’s proposed town pier project proposed for the area adjacent to the east. The infrastructure improvement costs here are estimated at $800,000, based on comparable dock facility and landside improvements in the Scituate feasibility report (1999). The Long Wharf Harbor Express landing and the Rowes Wharf finger pier are both capable of handling the proposed Salem vessels without modification and would provide good access to downtown work destinations. Harbor Express dock is on the north side of Long Wharf and would have the needed capacity for expanded Massachusetts Bay services. Planners may have to address overall capacity requirements there in the case of concurrent expansion of Quincy service and/or other Massachusetts Bay service startups. The BRA has future plans but no timetable (BIHPWTP) to expand the berth by up to 320 feet. Because bow loading vessels are anticipated, a second slip could be added at Long Wharf North, adding extra capacity for 5 to 10 minute berthing slots and avoiding the immediate need for new slots. If, however, several such services were using only Long Wharf North, then a study of total capacity might indicate the need to make more use of Rowes wharf. As stated for the Quincy service, small amount of dredging and scrapping of old piles would improve the approach in that basin, but is not essential. Estimates for this work vary widely depending on whether the dredging is piggy-backed with other harbor projects.
Field Work The Salem sites were visited and interviews conducted in June of 2002. The Central Wharf landing site was inspected with representatives of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The Blaney Street site was visited with a representative of the marine community. A group meeting was held with representatives of city planning, community development, the National Park Service, and community advocates. Table 7-3 Terminal Infrastructure Status and Needs Salem – Boston Service
Directory: lib lib -> Security Survey lib -> Strategic Plan South Sudan Country Office Context lib -> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh Selected Letters lib -> 1. naclo 2015 – North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad lib -> Ieee/iee electronic Library (iel) lib -> Lnpa wg position on Porting of Telephone Numbers Used by Voip service Providers lib -> 1. naclo 2017 – North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad lib -> [0] B. Hardware [2] lib -> [1] B. Hardware [1] lib -> Chem I honors Unit 2 Notes: Numbers in Chemistry Measurement Download 4.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
| ||||||||||||||||||||