Commuting from Lynn to Boston will get appreciably easier Monday when ferry service returns.
The first boat will depart the EDIC Pier on Blossom Street Extension at 6 a.m. for the trip to Long Wharf in Boston. There will be five weekday trips to Boston: 6, 7:30, and 9:20 a.m., and 5 and 6:30 p.m. The ferry will return from Long Wharf to Lynn on weekdays at 6:45 and 8:15 a.m., and 4, 5:45, and 7:15 p.m.
For the first time, the ferry will run on weekends this year starting on May 25, Memorial Day weekend. The Saturday and Sunday departures from Lynn will be at 8 and 10 a.m., and 12, 3, 5, and 6:45 p.m. The departure times from Boston back to Lynn are 9:25 and 11:40 a.m., and 4:40, 6:40, and 8:25 p.m.
The cost of a one-way trip from Lynn to Boston is $7 ($3.50 for reduced-fare riders). Children ages 11 and younger can ride for free. In July and August when the Sumner Tunnel is closed, the fare will drop to $2.40, as it did last year. The capacity is approximately 150 people per trip.
“We are thrilled to have the ferry return,” Mayor Jared Nicholson said. “Water transportation can play an important role in the transportation infrastructure for Lynn and the region.”
The MBTA reinstated the Lynn ferry service in 2023. The state had run a two-year ferry pilot program in 2014 and 2015 and reduced service in 2017 with only one trip per day each way. Riders responded last year even better than expected, with approximately 20,000 people taking the ferry in July and August, when the Sumner Tunnel was closed.
“We look forward to the momentum surrounding the ferry continuing to build,” EDIC/Lynn Executive Director James Cowdell said. “We appreciate the riders who supported it last year and hope more people will take advantage of such a convenient way to access Boston.”
The MBTA signed a two-year lease with the EDIC in 2023 for use of the EDIC pier, terminal, and parking lot on Blossom Street Extension for the purpose of operating the commuter ferry. There is an option for a three-year extension, Cowdell said.
The state’s Seaport Advisory Council funded the ferry in 2014 and 2015, attracting almost 28,000 riders in that span. There was no ferry in 2016, but the Massachusetts Department of Transportation funded reduced service in 2017 with only one trip per day each way.
