New owner for Delaware River ferry

Operating the Delaware River's ferry has been a losing proposition for the Delaware River Port Authority, but a vote Wednesday will give a Philadelphia nonprofit a shot at using the boat to improve waterfront tourism.

After operating the service for 16 years, the DRPA approved a plan to hand ownership of the RiverLink Ferry (named Freedom), which travels between Penn's Landing and Camden, to the Delaware River Waterfront Corp.

The decision at the authority's monthly board meeting caps four years of negotiations over the boat's ownership. The transfer will take place without any money changing hands. Turning the boat over free of charge will allow the DRPA to avoid having to give some of that money to federal agencies that have provided grants to keep the ferry running.

"We believe if the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is in charge, they'll do a better job of running this consumer ferry," said John Hanson, the DRPA's chief executive.

The DRWC is looking at the ferry as a potential tourism driver.

"DRWC is focusing its efforts on the marketing of the RiverLink Ferry system to grow ridership and support our waterfront partners on both sides of the river," Tom Corcoran, president of the DRWC, said in a statement emailed Wednesday.

The transfer of ownership will be made official in 10 days, Hanson said. The DRWC already operates the ferry, so passengers shouldn't see any immediate change in service. The ferry can hold 517 people and travels between banks at hourly intervals all week.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, the DRPA board approved a plan that will allow SEPTA's electronic fare card system, SEPTA Key, to read PATCO Freedom cards by 2017.

SEPTA is planning a limited launch of Key cards in June, but when the system is fully operational, riders won't even need to get a branded SEPTA card to pay for public transportation.

The system is designed to read some kinds of bank cards, and the DRPA plan involves changes to software on its fare system that will make it readable by SEPTA's scanners. Eventually, DRPA officials said, SEPTA Key cards will be readable by PATCO scanners, as well.