Hey, kids, wouldnât
Boaty McBoatface and
Bryan Ferry be great names? No? Ugh, kids today!) Or maybe, once again, nothing will happen.
But here are five reasons why Frog Ferry just might get past the hot tub musing/barstool brainstorm stage and take form.
1. Traffic keeps getting worse, and transit is slow. A 2006 ferry feasibility study concluded a commuter service was too expensive to pursue at the time, but that it could be viable in the future if certain things happened. The first such condition: âdegradation of vehicular travel time on roadways parallel to the river that give a water-born transit a distinct travel time advantage.â If the vehicle in question is a bus, the travel timeâs never been that great. The trip between the heart of St. Johns and downtown Portland takes an advertised 30 minutes on TriMet's infrequent 16, but it's a lot longer if there's a freight train crossing on NW Naito or a backup on the St. Johns Bridge ramp. The 44 takes, well, about 44 minutes, and the rather roundabout 4 takes at least an hour. (No one in their right mind would take the 4 that whole way, of course; the savvy downtown commuter accesses the Willamette side of the peninsula by taking the Yellow Line MAX to the 44.) The ferry ride between Cathedral Park and RiverPlace would be 25 minutes, though if your destination is not Cathedral Park or RiverPlace you'd have to add transit time on either end. A future stop closer to the OHSU tram is a possibility, but particularities of the Zidell riverfront property preclude a ferry dock there at the moment.