Fall River-to-Block Island ferry floated

SETTING THE COURSE: Fall River Mayor William Flanagan would like to see ferry service run from his city to Block Island. The Rhode Island destination is an alternative to Martha's Vineyard, he says. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
SETTING THE COURSE: Fall River Mayor William Flanagan would like to see ferry service run from his city to Block Island. The Rhode Island destination is an alternative to Martha's Vineyard, he says. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

In their search for an economic boost over the years, Fall River leaders have looked far and wide for new opportunities, but seldom have they made a play for beach traffic – until now.
A new Fall River-to-Block Island ferry route is in the works courtesy of Mayor William Flanagan, who sees an opening to draw fried clam and sand seekers fed up with Martha’s Vineyard crowds or the long and sometimes slow drive to Point Judith.
“I am always looking for ways to improve economic development and New Bedford has been very successful in launching the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard,” Flanagan said about the ferry idea. “Throughout the year you see people there stopping for coffee before getting on the boat and then, after they spend the day, they come back and have dinner along the harbor. New Bedford has a pretty strong hold on the Vineyard, so that took me to Block Island.”
Flanagan wants to run a single-trip, trial voyage from the Fall River state pier to Block Island on a weekend in late June and is currently searching for an operator and place to land the ferry on the island.
After the trial run, Flanagan plans to commission a market study of the route with an eye toward luring a ferry company to run a permanent seasonal service for 2013 and beyond.
It’s part of a larger effort to bring activity to the Fall River waterfront and utilize a state pier that’s set for a $3.5 million upgrade over the next three years. It comes along with other development schemes such as a Fall River casino or convincing Google to open an office in the city instead of in and around Boston.
But whether launching a new ferry line to Block Island makes business sense will take some proving.
The ferry industry is notoriously difficult to make profitable and Flanagan is targeting a combination of southeastern Massachusetts, Boston and Providence-area demand that may or may not exist.
Along with the backbone ferry from Point Judith, Interstate Navigation Company Inc. also runs a seasonal ferry from Fort Adams State Park in Newport to Block Island. That ferry would presumably already draw some of the Massachusetts and East Bay Rhode Island market Fall River is targeting. According to Interstate Vice President Joshua Linda, the Newport route draws paltry ridership compared with Point Judith.
What’s more, Interstate used to run a ferry from Providence to Newport and Block Island, but the Providence leg was eliminated 13 years ago because of plunging ridership.
“Newport is not as busy of a run as Point Judith and the very low ridership makes us more skeptical that there is demand,” Linda said. “They want to get people from Boston, but I don’t know what the demand in the Boston area is for Block Island.”
Flanagan reached out to Interstate, as well as other ferry operators, about the Fall River route, but Linda said his company is not going to be interested unless there is more evidence of a market for it.
“We currently have no interest in [Fall River] due to the lack of interest and general economic times, which are hopefully getting better,” Linda said. “If a market study shows demand for it, we could get involved, but it is risky.”
Flanagan declined to say which ferry companies he has been in talks with about running the June trial to Block Island, but said there is interest from companies who have at least one under-utilized boat.
Based on the response he has gotten so far, Flanagan said he’s confident he can fill a 300-passenger test boat with paying customers, so the voyage will pay for itself with some profit for the operator.
An obvious candidate to run the Fall River ferry would be Seastreak LLC, the New Jersey company that runs the New Bedford-to-Martha’s Vineyard service, as well as commuter boats from New Jersey to Manhattan.
Attempts to reach Seastreak management about Block Island were unsuccessful.
On the island itself, reaction to Flanagan’s pitch for a new ferry has been cautious.
Two weeks after the proposal was first floated, the Block Island Tourism Council had yet to take a position on the idea.
“We are definitely amenable to anything that will increase tourism to Block Island, especially if it extends the shoulder season,” said Executive Director Jessica Willi. “In July and August we are pretty good and on peak weekends, bringing in more people could tax the infrastructure. Midweek could be good and shoulder season could be good.” Willi said when the council members do vote, she would be surprised if they come out against another ferry.
New Shoreham Town Manager Nancy O. Dodge said, contrary to what Flanagan has indicated, she is holding off on taking any position on a Fall River ferry.
Dodge said the only concern she has with the idea is how it would affect Interstate Navigation, which provides the bulk of the island’s summer ferry service, the only vehicle-carrying ferries and the only year-round service.
“Our only concern would be that an economic review of this be done to make sure this is not something that would hurt Interstate financially – they are our lifeline,” Dodge said.
On top of the operator question, another issue that has yet to be worked out is where on Block Island a ferry from Fall River would dock.
There is no viable state or municipal pier on the island, Dodge said, and Interstate owns the docks where its ferries land.
Despite the hurdles, Flanagan is confident that the ferry business could be a winner for Fall River based on the reaction he has gotten since he first floated the idea last month.
“People call up and are talking about it,” Flanagan said. “There has been a high level of curiosity waiting for it to start up.”
Whether the service will employ a traditional boat, which would mean an approximately two-hour trip, or a high-speed ferry that could cut that nearly in half, has not been decided.
Flanagan said he is leaning toward a high-speed boat – like the New Bedford-Vineyard ferry – to draw day trips and maximize the time savings over a drive to Newport or South County.
“With high speed, a trip would take one hour and 15 minutes, so in the time it takes you to get to and park in Newport or Point Judith, you could be on Block Island,” Flanagan said. “On the other hand, maybe there is vehicle demand. I am confident the market analysis will show us which way to go.” •

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