Q&A
Exploring innovative technologies for ferry expansion in the Rockaways
1:09:23
·
101 sec
Council Member Brooks-Powers inquires about potential technologies or improvements that could make ferry expansion feasible in the Eastern Rockaway communities. James Wong from EDC discusses the possibilities and limitations of developing new vessel types.
- It is technically possible to build vessels that could pass under the problematic bridge, but there are no current plans to expand or change the fleet.
- Smaller vessels designed for low bridges often sacrifice stability in open water.
- EDC is not currently investigating new vessel types due to the lack of an expansion plan.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
1:09:23
No.
1:09:23
I could as always chat about the ferry.
1:09:26
Shuttle.
1:09:27
Okay.
1:09:28
So are there technologies or improvements that we can invest in that can make the ferry Banchin, feasible in the future, or some other approach that could more efficiently connect people in the Eastern Rockaway communities to the ferry.
1:09:45
And, again, wanting to like, EDC is there to be innovative.
1:09:51
Like, you all help to invest and build things.
1:09:54
So I'm interested in knowing if there are any technologies that you guys may be aware of that we could invest in.
James Wong
1:10:03
So as in terms of it is not the case that you cannot build a vessel that could get under the bridge that we're talking about.
1:10:13
At this juncture, we are not expanding we we have no current plans for expanding the fleet or changing the vessel types that we have.
1:10:20
The vessel types that we have have been have really prioritized their ability to work throughout many parts of the fleet so that we have good flexibility throughout the system.
1:10:30
It is not to say that a specific purpose built vessel could not be built.
1:10:34
However, what we found in the past when we've asked this question is that often when you get to a smaller vessel that goes under bridges like that, you end up sacrificing on other things.
1:10:45
So you might not be able to get a vessel that is quite as stable when you're going out over the ocean to get into Lower Manhattan.
1:10:51
So there are different vessels that could be investigated or sort of vessel hull types and things like that.
1:10:59
They're not currently on our because we don't have an expansion plan at this point.