Photo: WBZ NewsRadio \ James Rojas
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The MBTA announced the East Boston Ferry Project began service on Monday, getting commuters from Lewis Mall to Long Wharf in about ten minutes.
The new ferry service project operates between East Boston at Lewis Mall and Long Wharf in the downtown Boston area. The ferry will run every 30 minutes and operate in the fall season from September 12 to November 30, 2022. Service will take a pause during the winter months and reopen service in the spring on March 1, 2023, according to the MBTA. The full schedule is yet to be released.
"The demonstration project that we're introducing was funded in this year's state budget so it'll be a $2.40 fare to take the ferry from Lewis Wharf over to Boston, so we're pleased to introduce that service," MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said.
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The East Boston Ferry was originally introduced when Blue Line service was suspended in the spring of 2022. It was used as an alternative to shuttle buses while the MBTA was doing work on the harbor tunnel. About 1,750 people used the ferry daily, according to the MBTA.
"It's really exciting, I took the ferry during the Blue Line shutdown a few months back and I was really excited to see they were going to restart this," Christina, the first person to take the new ferry service, told WBZ's James Rojas.
The service proved to be a success during the Blue Line shutdown prompting the state legislature to fund the East Boston Ferry Project.
"We look forward to introducing it and also getting additional data to see what the level of interest is in this demonstration project on an ongoing basis," Poftak said.
WBZ's James Rojas (JamesRojasNews) has more:
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