(November 14, 2004) — Not enough money. Not being able to carry commercial trucks. A garden hose attached to the ship to provide potable water. And only about 63 people on the first paying trip because CATS had bragged that the initial voyage was sold out.

Those are some of the examples of poor planning, critics say, that began with an unrealistic business proposal.

The business plan involved linking Rochester and Toronto, one of the largest metropolitan areas in North America, with a massive $42.5 million ship built in Australia. The vessel would hold 774 passengers and 238 cars and trucks and tour buses, and draw its core passengers from a pool of 9.6 million people living in the region that runs from Ontario, Canada, through Rochester to Syracuse.

Eighty-five percent of its business was supposed to be leisure travelers, with the rest business and commercial traffic. CATS expected that in its first year, the ship would carry 662,956 passengers, 159,777 cars, 4,067 tour buses and 12,202 trucks.

But skeptics questioned CATS' projections about ridership.

"I never really felt it was going to be successful without some sort of (government) subsidy," said Bob Barbato, a management professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. "I have no problem with that. Governments subsidize bridges and roads and airports. There's no reason why we shouldn't have subsidies for ferries."

CATS officials defend the business plan, saying it was hurt by factors outside their control. There is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the company.

When the ferry stopped service, the company said it had been bogged down by unanticipated bills: $5,200 per day in pilotage and docking fees, $2,500 in daily Canada Border Services Agency fees and the higher-than-expected fuel costs. It also was losing out on possibly $18,000 in daily revenue because it wasn't allowed to carry commercial trucks.

CATS officials insist they were misled on those issues. For example, the company has a 2003 letter from the Office of Great Lakes Pilotage saying it didn't have to pay docking and undocking fees and a June 2004 letter from U.S. Customs clearing it to start service, including carrying trucks.

"Unfortunately," Delucia said, "a lot of promises made in this project remain either broken or very delayed."

The bottom line, many observers say, is that those issues demonstrate poor management and planning.

One reason the ferry has not resumed yet, say those involved with the project, is that CATS has learned valuable lessons: Clear up all the issues before the service starts and have enough money in reserve.