BRADENTON – The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) discussed the status of the new water ferry service and the possibility of adding a third ferry on April 15.
The Gulf Islands Ferry service began in January with two boats stopping at the Bradenton Beach Pier, the Anna Maria Pier and the Bradenton day dock. The service initially ran Friday through Sunday, with Wednesdays and Thursdays added to the schedule.
According to TDC member and Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione, a third boat is needed.
“We won’t know everything until we know. We’re going to be a little bit bold,” Falcione said. “What I’ve said to staff and even to Tricia (Rodriguez, president of Gulf Coast Water Taxi), it’s kind of shame on us if the weather is beautiful and the boats are sitting at the day dock in Bradenton and there’s traffic going out to the Island.”
Falcione said the goal is to have the ferry boats running seven days a week by February 2025. He said since launching the boats, there have been 22 days that service was suspended due to chop, wind and rain. He also said they have looked at boats that are totally enclosed and could run during bad weather with rooftop decks that would offer great views,making for fewer canceled trips. Falcione said the cost for these boats would be in the range of $2.6-$2.8 million dollars. He said the new boats would be close to the same size as the current boats, so the docks wouldn’t need to be modified.
“If you ask me what I think, we need to come to the Board of County Commissioners and ask to buy that third ferry soon,” Falcione said. “Once we say go, it’s probably going to take 12 months, give or take, to build that boat, and that should mitigate a lot of those suspended dates.”
Falcione said the suspended days cost the service a potential 7,000 passengers.
Rodriguez said the growth of the ferry ridership is like nothing she has experienced, adding that she is seeing growth among both tourists and residents. Despite the success of the program, she said challenges remain, the primary one being weather.
“We roll with the punches and always make sure it’s safe,” she said. “We leave that to our captains and our crew; we know there can be sudden weather changes. That being said, we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about water-borne transportation and weather changes that we have. A lot of that could be mitigated with the right operation, the right dock situation, ADA compliance and all the things our team is doing.”
She echoed Falcione in saying that larger boats better equipped for inclement weather would improve the service with fewer delays.
The TDC did not take action on the suggestion of a new boat.
