Page 13: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2021)

commuter communities, or may actually become more heav- In other words, in part time commutes ferries may very well end ily populated by part time commuters or off hour commuters. up gaining, while the big losers will be buses and trains.

However, while it is a complex issue for ferry operators, when At this stage it is dif? cult what the long term post COVID considered at a larger transportation system level, it is nowhere trends will be. An extreme result may be the total disappear- near the devastation that bus and train operators are facing. ance of traditional commuting. Potentially businesses may

When compared to trains and buses, ferry operators have a choose to shut down their center city operations and commut- number of advantages that may actually result in further use ers as we know them may completely disappear. of ferries as compared to trains and buses and also personal Strangely, even then, ferries may still be the winners. Ex- transportation. commuters may migrate to relatively isolated places without

Consider the customer. The commuter customer used to existing public transportation infrastructure or may choose to choose its best option between bus, train, or ferry. As long as live in places where public transportation infrastructure can they all provide all day service, the choice came down to time, be added at low cost. And the lowest initial investment public quality and cost. transportation infrastructure is ... ferries.

The time variable has not changed much, but the quality Time for Ferries V2.0. May the smartest operators win.

factor has, since ferries are inherently more outdoor oriented than trains and buses and also tend to be less crowded. As For each column I write, MREN has agreed to make a such, a commuter may now be more likely to chose a ferry small donation to an organization of my choice. For this over a bus or train for COVID risk reduction reasons. column I nominate the Worldwide Ferry Safety Associa-

With regard to cost there is little difference pre- or post-CO- tion, https://www.ferrysafety.org/ and in particular its

VID for a ? ve-day commuter, but for a part time commuter, the student design competition, which has provided students reduced overall cost of the two or three day per week may very with challenging design assignments for eight years now well compel her to opt for the ferry instead of the bus or the train. https://www.ferrysafetydesigncompetition.org/

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