Dan’s Papers March 16, 2012 danshamptons.com Page 22
Ferries, Scoots, Busses, Beach Rides & More HamptonsFreeRide.com
By Kelly Laffey I don’t care how fancy your car is— and I have an awesome yellow VW bug, so I know what I’m talking about here— driving in the Hamptons in the summer is awful. The traffic. The lack of parking. Dodging pedestrians. Most of the time, driving is more aggravation than it’s worth. Our incessantly honking horns have spoken, and people are listening. Summer 2012 promises to ease our lead foot and clenched teeth with a multitude of public transportation options. First on the list is the return of the muchhyped Hamptons Free Ride service. Launched last summer by friends and East Hampton natives James Mirras and Alex Esposito, Hamptons Free Ride was a huge success. Three electric shuttles, each carrying six passengers, looped between Main Beach, Main Street and the parking lot on Gingerbread Lane. The 2012 service, which will be back in action on Friday, May 25, will now expand into Montauk, with tentative plans to also serve Amagansett. “I’m really excited about the expansion,” said Esposito, the sales and marketing director for Hamptons Free Rides. “It will be great to be in Montauk—it’s the first time that we’ll be in a hotel community.” For those of us who know that it takes upwards of 45 minutes to circumvent the two forks, but can’t help but harp on the fact that the distance you’ve actually traveled is, as the crow flies, about nine miles, relief may be in sight. The proposed passenger ferry service
the March 13 Sag Harbor Village Board meeting so that board of trustees will better be able to understand how the community feels about the plan. I’m all for growing businesses, but my favorite way to get to the beach has always been via bicycle. Fortunately, for fellow like-minded riders, all Suffolk County busses now have bike racks available to bus riders free of charge. The busses can each accommodate two bikes on a firstcome, first-serve basis. Also in the realm of public transportation Heading to the Beach. are the East End’s forthcoming East End from Sag Harbor to Greenport may take its Shuttle “scoot” trains. Projected to be in place inaugural voyage this summer. by the summer of 2014, the scoot trains would The Peconic Bay Passenger Water Jitney run between Eastport and Montauk on the is a service spearheaded by the Hampton South Fork and Ronkonkoma to Greenport Jitney’s Geoffrey Lynch and Response Marine’s on the North Fork. Advocated by the Five Jim Ryan. East Enders will be able to travel Town Rural Transit group, the proposed on the 53-seater low-wake catamaran, which service incorporates two-car shuttle trains would be leased from the New York Water on the existing Long Island Railroad tracks Taxi Company, and the Hampton Jitney has to provide more frequent service to eastern factored in ground service connecting Sag Suffolk County. The trains, which would have Harbor, East Hampton and Bridgehampton. a smaller diesel engine, are cost-efficient and Sag Harbor Village currently prohibits ideal for traveling shorter distances. passenger and vehicle ferries, but the board With the majority of train stations situated of trustees could override the ban by passing a close to the center of town, the “scoot” trains local law. Take that!, chain stores who tell me could help promote intra-Island hopping. that my “nearest location” is in Connecticut. Sadly, the two-car service would not solve the With this ferry service, it just might be easier problem of Amagansett, where less than two to get there. full cars fit in the station. At the request of Sag Harbor Village Mayor Of course, if none of these options will do, EEH gen ad will DansPaper4.5x6 5/7/09 11:49 AM Page 1 Brian Gilbride, Lynch and Ryan make there’s always the Hamptons Subway. a public presentation on their proposal at
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