Connecticut is home to the oldest public ferry in the country. While most drivers prefer to use the newer bridges to commute, the boat is still a draw for many residents and visitors alike.
WSHU’s Ebong Udoma spoke with CT Mirror’s John Moritz to discuss his article, “It’s the oldest public ferry in the country. Here’s what keeps it afloat,” as part of the collaborative podcast Long Story Short. Read John’s story here.
WSHU: Hello, John. How did you find out about the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury ferry? It started back in 1655. How did you find out about it, and is that why you wanted to do a story and do a deep dive into this?
JM: So I actually found out about the ferry by taking a trip on its sister service, the ferry between Chester and Hadlyme a little bit further down the Connecticut River. I've ridden that ferry a number of times on my way to and from Gillette Castle State Park, and I had always known through that service about the Rocky Hill and Glastonbury ferry, which is a little further up the river. But I had never actually written it until I got the chance to go out earlier this month on the ferry service with the captain whom I interviewed. I think the reason I wanted to tell this story is I've long been interested in this kind of anachronistic mode of transportation that we have here in Connecticut, which dates back centuries and you don't really see around anywhere else. And I wanted to explore the reasons why it still exists and why it's continued to be successful, whereas, you know, other services like this throughout the country have slowly fallen away.
WSHU: Now, this is 1655, when they started this ferry. How have they kept it going all these years?
JM: So when this ferry opened, you know, it was one of many. I did a little bit of research into the history, and it was one of many similar services that worked up and down the Connecticut River and across rivers and streams all over New England in the early nation. I think what's kept this one going is the state took over in the early 1900s around 1917 and has really invested the money to keep it going. Other services may not have been so profitable, but it was just a simple matter of economics and efficiency. As more bridges were built over the rivers, it was easier for people with cars to just take that rather than having to wait for the ferry to come or pay a toll across the river.
WSHU: This is a four-minute ride across the Connecticut River between Rocky Hill and Glastonbury, South Glastonbury. If you were going by road, how long would it take you to make that journey?
JM: So it depends on where you're starting out. If you're starting out from one of those two towns, and your direction is to get to the other town, it's going to take you about, you know, an additional 20-30 minutes. It's, I believe, a 13-mile detour to go up to, believe, the closest bridges in Portland, Connecticut. But, you know, for people who are not traveling distinctively between those two cities, you know, if you're from, if you're in New Haven where I live, and you're trying to go to somewhere else in the eastern part of the state, there's bridges that are going to be a more convenient and cheaper option for for you. And when I spoke to the captain, one of the things I learned from him is that about 90% of his passengers, he estimates, are sightseers or people who are not taking it necessarily to commute to where they need to go, but are taking it to enjoy the journey. And that's been, you know, my experience on the Chester Hadlyme ferries. Whenever I'm in that area, I look and see if the ferry is open, and I try to go across and just spend a little time and enjoy the river and enjoy the views of Gillette Castle. And I think that's part of the reason that they've stuck around and remain so popular is that it's such a pleasant and unique experience.
WSHU: 100,000 riders a year, which is paid for by state and federal money. It costs about $1.4 million a year. How does that break down?
JM: So the cost to operate both ferries is about $1.4 million, but $900,000 of that comes from federal funds. The state does charge. There's a toll on the ferries. I believe it is $5 or $6 a ride, but that money goes into the special transportation fund and isn't necessarily used to offset the cost of the ferry.
WSHU: Now they've tried cutting back on state funding or looking for other ways of subsidizing the funding of this ferry. How has that worked out over the years?
JM: Yeah, so it seems, doing a little research, that this is something that pops up every, you know, decade or so when there's a budget crisis and the state needs to cut back funding, most recently under Governor Dan Malloy in 2011. And every time it's been proposed, you get this enormous pushback, both from the local community and from people around the state who have enjoyed riding it for years in the summers as part of their, you know, weekly weekend excursions or, you know, a road trip across the state, or whatever it may be. There was even a proposal a number of years ago to sell ads like you would see on the side of a bus on the ferry, to raise a little bit of revenue. People pushed back strongly against that, and that proposal ended up being pulled back because I think people like the service. They like the way it is. You know, the tug and the barge both date back to the 1950s, and it's something that people don't want to see changed.
WSHU: You spent some time with the barge Captain Blaise Clemente. Could you just tell us a little bit about him? He has a very interesting background. Yeah.
JM: So he was, he formerly owned a stock brokerage on the Boston Stock Exchange, and he told me, in 2004 he came, he moved to Connecticut, and had previously also done some work on lobster boats, and had been riding and captaining boats all his life, and wanted to really focus on that, and so he started a career with the Connecticut ferry service, and he's been a captain for the last 20 years. He's one of three captains on that specific route that split their time. The route operates seven days a week.
WSHU: So what's his experience? I mean, how has he kept it going all these years? It's a four-minute ride across the river.
JM: I kind of asked him, you know, is this something when you were trying to leave the world of finance? Were you looking for something slow, a slower life on the water, so to speak? And what he said is, you know, no, no two trips, even though this is something he's done hundreds of 1000s of times, no two trips are the same. The river can change on a minute-to-minute basis, and you have to keep your toes on and keep watch, making sure that the people and your passengers remain safe. And you know, you can look up their safety records through the Coast Guard, and they have a pretty immaculate record. They've not lost any passengers or cars in the available records, so they have a pretty immaculate safety record.
WSHU: Good. So John, what's your takeaway from this? Is this a service that's going to continue for another 100 years?
JM: I think that, you know, remains to be seen. It's certainly something that has evolved from being a necessary utility for people in the area to something that is essentially a state-funded pleasure experience. But I think a lot of people really appreciate that. And I mean, for $5 or $6 on the weekends, you know, it's such a pleasant thing to do that's affordable for families. You know, it's the cost. The toll is per car. So you can load up a family with five people and it's the same $5 toll. So I think as long as people continue to appreciate that and realize the uniqueness of this service, I think it'll stay around.
