Since 2015, the Queen City Bike Ferry has been transporting people (and their bikes) from the Commercial Slip at Canalside to the Bike Ferry Landing at the Outer Harbor. What started off as a nice little convenience has turned into a staple waterfront attraction.
For a meager $1 toll (one-way fare), passengers are able to effortlessly access this unique transport, while enjoying a short outing onto the water while en route to and from the Outer Harbor. Once at the Outer Harbor, pedestrians and cyclists can readily engage with a number of lakeside attractions, including Wilkeson Pointe (and the wind sculptures), a beach with sand volleyball courts, the Buffalo Main Lighthouse, Buffalo Harbor State Park, Charlie’s Boat Yard restaurant, Tifft and Times Beach Nature Preserves, bike trails, the Lakeside Bike Park, etc. Not to mention the First Buffalo River Marina, when it is constructed.
The Queen City Bike Ferry can hold up to 49 passengers and 25 bikes at a time.
Unfortunately, due to a long two-years of covid, the bike ferry has been temporarily shuttered. But now the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) has updated and renewed its contract with the Hilliman family-operated ferry service, to continue on with its mission of providing the unique service that runs daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
“The Queen City Bike Ferry not only connects the inner and outer harbors, but also provides a low-cost, efficient, scenic excursion on the water,” said ECHDC Chairman Robert Gioia. “Continuing this service allows easy access for bicyclists and pedestrians to the many attractions of our city’s greatest asset – the waterfront.”
Funding for the three-year operations/maintenance service contract – not to exceed $530,440, with a total contract amount that is capped at $1,652,190 – comes from the New York Power Authority, via the relicensing agreements tied to the operation of the Niagara Power Project. Revenues and sponsorship dollars that are garnered by the Bike Ferry are directed back to the ECHDC.
One-way trips take five to 10 minutes to complete between the Commercial Slip at Canalside and the Bike Ferry Landing on the Outer Harbor.
Along with the standard operational and maintenance expectations, the Hillimans are also on the hook for landscape maintenance at the Bike Ferry Landing site, operations and maintenance of the ticket kiosks, and provision of a second ferry during selected peak days based on the past year’s attendance records, according to the ECHDC. The responsibilities include taking care of off-season storage of the vessel and docks associated with the ferry service.
It will be great to see the Bike Ferry operating along the waterfront again in 2022. It’s a quintessential enterprise that goes hand-in-hand with so many of the other attractions, including the new carousel and children’s museum.
And until The Campaign for Greater Buffalo gets traction for its long-span pedestrian bridge – linking the proposed Buffalo Cloudwalk to the Connecting Terminal Grain Elevator at the Outer Harbor – the Bike Ferry is the next best thing to providing reliable and convenient access.