The local socio-economic impact of improved waterborne public transportation. The case of the New York City ferry service

This paper looks into the recent actions of the New York City government to connect its five boroughs over water and the consequential impact on the socio-economic conditions of local coastal neighborhoods. The predictions from the Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study (CFS2013) are contrasted with actual data and observations of the transformations that have taken place in the direct surroundings of a selection of ferry terminals, both in terms of spatial changes, as well as economic growth or decline.

The paper starts with an illustration of how different modes of waterborne transportation steered urban transformation processes and coastal land uses over time. Next, the paper explains the rise of the NYC ferry network as a contemporary answer to a growing demand for public transportation that connects coastal neighborhoods. A comparative analysis between a selection of ferry landings reflects upon the impact that improved accessibility has on neighborhoods’ spatial, social, economic, and environmental conditions. The paper studies several parameters, including the neighborhoods’ property prices, employment rates, daily commutes, development interest, demographics, and tourism.

What distinguishes this paper from other studies is the direct link between the quantitative data and the social, economic and environmental characteristics of the surroundings of the ferry landings. Instead of providing a mere technical analysis, the paper studies the transformation of neighborhoods in proximity to the ferry stops and reflects upon hypothetical future impact of new ferry stops. A link is made between the quantitative results of existing studies to a case analysis of the concerned neighborhoods. Whereas the methodology used in this paper is a combination of both a theoretical and an empirical analysis of New York City's waterfront, the main goal is to provide a theoretical contribution by notion of a case study approach.