South Shore Chamber Says 'Save the Commuter Boats'

The South Shore Chamber of Commerce has called on the MBTA to back away from a proposal to eliminate ferry service between the South Shore and Boston.

In a letter to MBTA general manager Jonathan Davis, Chamber president Peter Forman said dropping ferry service “would severely undermine a regional development strategy pattern on the South Shore that has been actively pursued by the South Shore Chamber of Commerce and strongly supported by the Patrick administration.” 

Commuter boats provide transportation from Quincy, Hingham and Hull to downtown Boston and Logan Airport. The ferries operate under contract to the MBTA.

In the early 1980’s, the South Shore Chamber of Commerce obtained the funding to begin the commuter boat service.

“The economic future of the South Shore depends on its transportation network. The major development projects underway or on the drawing board are all designed around a mix of transportation alternatives,” Forman said. “Water transportation is a vital part of that mix.”

Forman cited the development at the Hingham Shipyard, “where one of the anchor assets to that residential and retail development is the ferry service into Boston.”

“It is critical to our regional development that the state look at the ferry services not solely from a perspective of current dollars and ridership but in the context of the region’s planned growth over the next decade,” Forman said.

The MBTA plans a series of public hearings in the coming weeks to review proposals to realign its services and fare structure.

-South Shore Chamber