Bummer news for those still holding out hope for high-speed passenger ferry service across Lake Pontchartrain. WWL reports that the Pontchartrain Express "project is on hold," the offices are shut down, and the proposed boats aren't even available anymore. In case y'all missed it, the plan was for a 40-minute ferry ride that would start at a Mandeville launch and cross the lake over to Pontchartrain Landing RV Park where "luxury express shuttles" would transport riders to different points around New Orleans. Apparently, the guy who owns the land where the North Shore ferry terminal was planned, said he doesn't want to sign on for 15 years (a requirement) since it's such an iffy project.
The $30 round-trip ride would offer tv, wi-fi, a coffee bar, and bathrooms (thank goodness!). The ferry would have been able to run in shitty weather and make its way through fog, two things that sometimes shut down the Causeway Bridge. Over 40,000 cars pass daily over the 24-mile long Causeway, the only way across the lake unless you want to swoop way over to Slidell and cross the I-10 bridge.
· Pontchartrain Express ferry project fading [WWL]
· Pontchartrain Express [official site]