The RiverLink Ferry Freedom at the Camden Waterfront | |
Locale | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey |
---|---|
Waterway | Delaware River |
Transit type | Passenger ferry |
Operator | Delaware River Waterfront Corporation |
Began operation | March 1992 |
No. of vessels | 2 |
No. of terminals | 2 |
The RiverLink Ferry is a passenger ferry service in the United States. The ferry crosses the Delaware River, connecting the Camden Waterfront, in Camden, New Jersey, with Penn's Landing, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ferry operates daily from May through September, and on Fridays through Sundays in April and October. [1] Primarily, the system provides tourists with a means to reach waterfront attractions. [2] The service carries over 200,000 passengers per year and first turned a profit in 2006. [3]
The ferry service initiated operations in March 1992. [4]
Between April 1, 2000 and 2015 the service was operated by the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA). The DRPA originally agreed to take over its operation in November 1999. [5] Service is provided by Freedom Ferry, a 600-passenger vessel managed by Hornblower Marine Services. [6] [7] On June 3, 2005, Hornblower also began offering Delaware River ferry tours under the name "Harbor Tours." [8]
In 2000, the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration provided a grant of $1,306,500 for the purchase and conversion of a second vessel. [9] This vessel, which became the Freedom Ferry, began operating in 2003 and eventually replaced the original vessel. [4]
On October 31, 2005, the DRPA announced it had received federal funding of $7.3 million for improvements to the ferry's dock in Philadelphia, comprising $3.3 million up front plus $1 million a year for four years. [10]
In 2015, DRPA sold the RiverLink Ferry to the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and the Cooper's Ferry Partnership. [11]
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 71,791 and was ranked as the 14th most populous municipality in New Jersey, after being ranked 12th in 2020. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828. Camden has been the county seat of Camden County since the county was formed on March 13, 1844. The city derives its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Camden is made up of over 20 neighborhoods. Geographically, the city is part of the South Jersey region.
The Cape May–Lewes Ferry is a ferry system in the United States that traverses a 17-mile (27 km) crossing of the Delaware Bay to connect North Cape May, New Jersey with Lewes, Delaware. The ferry constitutes a portion of U.S. Route 9 (US 9), and is the final crossing of the Delaware River-Delaware Bay waterway before it meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The PATCO Speedline is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), which runs between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden County, New Jersey. The line runs underground in Philadelphia, crosses the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, runs underground in Camden, then runs above ground to the east end of the line in Lindenwold, New Jersey. The Port Authority Transit Corporation and the Speedline are owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority. The line opened between Lindenwold and Camden on January 4, 1969 with the full line to Philadelphia opening a few weeks later on February 15, 1969.
The Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), officially the Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is a bi-state agency instrumentality created by a congressionally approved interstate compact between the governments of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The authority is principally charged to maintain and develop transportation links between the two states with four bridges, a ferry, and a mass transit rail line across the Delaware River. Though the DRPA has "port" in its name, it does not own or operate any ports.
The River Line is a diesel tram-train Interurban light rail system in southern New Jersey that connects the cities of Camden and Trenton, New Jersey's capital. It is so named because its route between the two cities is parallel to the Delaware River.
The Betsy Ross Bridge, also known as the Ross Memorial Bridge, is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, during the American Bicentennial Year. It was originally planned to be named as the "Delair Bridge", after a paralleling vertical lift bridge owned by Pennsylvania Railroad, but was instead later named for Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and reputed creator of the first American flag in 1776, making it the first automotive bridge named for a woman in America and the second bridge overall.
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The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated from 1836 to 1881. Formed as a result of the merger of four small lines dating from the earliest days of American railroading in the late 1820s and early 1830s, it was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1881, becoming part of their main line in 1902.
Penn's Landing is a waterfront area of Center City Philadelphia along the Delaware River. Its name commemorates the landing of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania in 1682. The actual landing site is farther south in Chester, Pennsylvania. The city of Philadelphia purchased the right to use the name. Penn's Landing is bounded by Front Street to the west, the Delaware River to the east, Spring Garden Street to the north, and Washington Avenue to the south, and is primarily focused on the Christopher Columbus Boulevard corridor.
Franklin Square station is an unused, underground rapid transit station on the PATCO Speedline, operated by the Delaware River Port Authority. It is located under Franklin Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened on June 7, 1936, the station was the first westbound and final eastbound station in Philadelphia, located just west of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which carries trains over the Delaware River. The station has been opened for four separate intervals, each time eventually being closed for low ridership. The station is currently being refurbished and is expected to open once again in April 2024.
San Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. John Reed established a sailboat ferry service in 1826. Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and tourists.
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Hornblower Cruises & Events NOW City Experiences is a San Francisco-based charter yacht, dining cruise and ferry service company.
The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority, it is one of four primary vehicular bridges between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, along with the Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra bridges. It carries Interstate 676/U.S. Route 30, pedestrians/cyclists, and the PATCO Speedline.
The Port of Camden is situated on east bank of the Delaware River in Camden and Gloucester City in southern New Jersey. It is one of several ports in the Delaware Valley metro area port complex and is located near the mouth of Newtown Creek opposite the Port of Philadelphia. The port is one of the nation's largest for wood products, steel, cocoa and perishable fruit.
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HMS Global Maritime is a maritime conglomerate headquartered in New Albany, Indiana. The company consists of five divisions - American Queen Steamboat Company, Victory Cruise Line, HMS Ferries, Seaward Services and HMS Consulting. The line operates globally, but mostly within North America and Japan.