Ferry trips across St. Johns River will return Tuesday after three-week pause
The St. Johns River Ferry will resume operations Tuesday morning after being out of service the past three weeks for vessel maintenance and ferry landing upgrades.
What hours does the ferry operate?
The boat runs from 6 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. between Mayport and Fort George Island for five-minute trips across the St. Johns River. Operating seven days a week, the boat departs every half hour. The schedule departure time on the Mayport side is on the hour and on the half hour. For the Fort George Island side, the scheduled departure is quarter past the hour and quarter until the top of the hour.
Out of service: When and how long will the St. Johns River Ferry be shut down this time?
Need for two: JTA will seek grant to buy second ferry boat
What work was done during the service suspension?
In addition to scheduled preventive maintenance of the boat, JTA says it did work on catwalk access and mooring bollards at Fort George Island along with work on warehouse equipment and systems, signage, bridge gantry preservation and refurbishment and replacement of approach slabs.
What does it cost to use the ferry?
The cost varies from $1 per one-way trip for pedestrians and bicyclists to $16 on weekends for trucks, buses and RVs. For cars, the weekday fare is $7 and the weekend fare is $8. The cost is less through the MyJTA app and riders also can purchase ticket booklets.
What plans are there for to add a second boat to service?
JTA will seek a $30 million grant for purchasing a second ferry that would eliminate the annual break in ferry trips. That second ferry might be electric-powered, a significant change from the diesel-fueled boat that has bee in use for decades.
Where can I get more information about the ferry service?
The JTA provides information about schedules and fares on its web site at ferry.jtafla.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Johns River ferry returns to service in Jacksonville
