New EBDG design for Staten Island ferry

Under the contract with the New York Department of Transportation (NYC DOT), the company will provide a complete design package, including contract drawings, specifications and other documents for vessels to replace the existing Barberi and Kennedy class ferries.

“Given their extensive and proven ferry boat design experience, we are looking forward to working with the Elliott Bay Design Group on this project,” said Captain James C DeSimone, deputy commissioner and COO, Staten Island Ferry.

“We’re looking forward to developing a vessel design that meets the need of the Staten Island Ferry on all fronts – economical to construct, efficient to operate and providing safe and reliable service to the people of New York,” added Matt Williamson, project manager, EBDG.

Senator Charles E Schumer (D-NY) has urged the federal government to provide US$267m to the NYC DOT for passenger ferries and upgrades to existing ferry terminals. NYC DOT is expected to apply for the grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Sandy Resilience Programme to help pay for the ferries, which are expected to cost US$309m to build.

EBDG served as subcontractor as part of the KPFF project team that performed a preliminary design investigation to ascertain the needs of a future ferry fleet. The results determined that reconstructing the fleet’s older classes of boats wasn’t economically feasible. Instead, the investigation recommended the design of new double-ended ferry boats with overall passenger capacity of 4,500 and cycloidal propulsion.