- the native canadian

Rick Armon
Staff writer

(November 14, 2004) — With all the rough weather along the way, Rochester's high-speed ferry project has been anything but a breeze.

But ferry supporters would rather focus on what went right with the Spirit of Ontario — the successes, they say, that prove a Rochester-to-Toronto ferry is a viable business that will prosper here one day:

Canadian American Transportation Systems carried 140,000 passengers on its massive ferry in less than three months. Canadians rode the ship here and explored Rochester. The city rebuilt its port. And passengers raved about the experience.

"Their greatest accomplishment was to utterly destroy this notion that this was a fairy tale," Rochester Mayor William A. Johnson Jr., one of the leading proponents of the ferry project, said about CATS. "There's no question in my mind that this is a viable and sustainable business."

Similar optimism is echoed across Lake Ontario. "I'm sure the service is the right thing to do between the two cities," said Lisa Raitt, president and chief executive of the Toronto Port Authority.

The ferry arrived at the Port of Rochester in late April heavily laden with both positive and negative expectations. While some supporters saw the service as the answer to Rochester's slumbering economy and a boost for local tourism, others saw it as a poor investment of public money and predicted the ferry would sink.

The skeptics, obviously, were right about CATS having problems. But ferry supporters point to some not so obvious yet persuasive positives:

Whether people realize it or not, just getting a ship here was a success. Numerous ferry ventures dating back to the early 1990s failed, apparently victims of financial problems.

CATS owners Dominick Delucia and Brian Prince deserve credit for being creative, taking a risk and investing in their hometown, said state Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit.

The ferry — and Rochester — received national and international attention. The New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN and MSNBC have run stories or brief items about the ferry. Frommer's, a worldwide travel publisher, wrote a mixed review of the ship.

"I think the ferry project in and of itself has created an important profile for Rochester," Delucia said. "We've been publicized as a community for a bold and daring venture."

Not all of the publicity about Rochester, especially a few stories and columns in Toronto newspapers, was positive, though.

In the short span of 80 days, about 140,000 passengers rode the ferry. Supporters say that proves that a service belongs here.

Anthony White, one of the world's leading ferry experts who worked on the project before moving back to Australia in 2003, said: "I believe now — as I did then, based on all my experience in the ferry business — that the route is a good one and has all the ingredients for total success."

CATS was able to overcome the negative publicity that followed an accident in New York City and engine troubles, said Wendy Wright, a public administration professor at the State University College at Brockport.

"They got a lot of people excited about it," she said.

People who rode the ship raved about the experience, sharing stories about their trip with family and friends. Take Lloyd Page, 54, of Rochester for example. "It was a nice ride and I did enjoy it," said Page, who has a relative in Canada and has recommended the ferry.

The vessel, which can carry 774 passengers and 238 cars, had the feel of a cruise ship. It could speed along at about 50 mph and features a restaurant, bars, wireless Internet service, two small movie theaters, a business class, a duty-free shop, a children's play area and an arcade.

But others aren't so sure. Any new venture will benefit from an initial burst of consumer interest, said Bob Barbato, a management professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. And CATS showed it can attract passengers during the summer months — but has not proven that this ferry route is a year-round business, he said.

When the ferry service was first launched, many critics complained that Canadians would not ride the ship to Rochester. Who, they asked, would visit here?

Despite those concerns, Canadians did visit. No specific numbers were available from CATS, but the company estimates that 30 percent of its ridership were Canadians.

The ferry project allowed the city to leverage federal and state dollars to rebuild its port. The city constructed a $16 million ferry terminal that now houses several shops and restaurants. Many businesses in the city's Charlotte neighborhood spruced up their properties. And there are plans to rebuild the property along the Genesee River and bring more commercial and residential development around the terminal.

"Without the ferry, I don't think we're going to see that development happen," said Cindy Gleichauf, a Greece resident.

She and her husband, Gus, had planned to ride the ship in October. She's annoyed she never got the chance to take it, especially after hearing positive feedback from friends.

"When it does come back, we're going to be one of the first people on it," she said. "I don't want to be kicking myself like I already am."

RARMON@DemocratandChronicle.com