Due to a reporter’s error, this story reported the last day of MBTA Lynn Ferry service was Monday. The last day of service is Tuesday. The Item regrets the error.
LYNN — The Lynn ferry made its last voyage of the year on Tuesday.
Several local leaders were attended the sendoff of the Ava Pearl, which has been making daily trips from Blossom Street Pier to Long Wharf in Boston since June.
“It’s been a huge success, and that certainly validates all our commitment to the importance and viability of this as a transit option,” Mayor Jared Nicholson said. “It’s a little bittersweet that it has to end.”
To mark the end of service for 2023, Nicholson, along with representatives from EDIC/Lynn and several city councilors and candidates, thanked riders in person for using the ferry on Monday.
Service had been extended beyond the initial mid-October end date after Nicholson and members of the state delegation, including state Sen. Brendan Crighton, pushed for service to continue.
“For many years, the legislative delegation has worked with city officials to fight for the restoration of ferry service in Lynn,” Crighton said. “There is no doubt that our ridership levels this year, along with many other benefits to the community, demonstrate the need to make ferry service for the North Shore permanent.”
The Ava Pearl primary captain, Clinton White, said throughout this period, he heard positive feedback from his riders, especially from those who opted to take the ferry instead of driving.
According to White, depending on winter weather conditions in the open water, he believes the ferry could work as a year-round service.
“(In the winter), it would be touch and go. But, as long as the ridership is there, I don’t see a problem with it,” White said.
EDIC/Lynn Executive Director James Cowdell, who had been working on getting ferry service to Lynn for almost two decades, said in an interview with The Item earlier this month that he believed that year-round ferry service would be the next step in making the ferry an option.
“The numbers were proof that we had a good idea,” Cowdell said. “A lot of people were naysayers and said it was never going to work.”
Bill Bochnak, operations manager, said that it was bittersweet to see ferry service end for 2023 but added that its run showed the viability of being part of the area’s transportation infrastructure.
“It leaves me heartened that in the future, this is something to build upon and to (someday) have a ferry that operates 52 weeks out of the year,” Bochnak said. “I couldn’t be more excited for the city and the region as a whole.”
Nicholson also said he believed that developing the Lynn Ferry would be something the city would plan for in the future.
“I think it’s absolutely viable to have this as a year-round option and will only help our residents have more options to get around and take cars off the road,” Nicholson said.
