page_title: MBTA boat
section_title: South Shore
hierarchical_section_title: MBTA boat / Routes / South Shore
caption_attribution_description: English: Flying Cloud at the north side of Long Wharf in April 2004
context_page_description: The MBTA boat or MBTA ferry system is a public boat service providing water transportation in Boston Harbor. It is operated by Boston Harbor Cruises under contract to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The system consists of three routes that terminate in downtown Boston. F1 service runs from Rowes Wharf to Hewitt's Cove in Hingham. F2H service runs from Long Wharf to Hewitt's Cove, with some trips stopping at Logan Airport, Pemberton Point in Hull, and/or some of the Boston Harbor Islands. F4 service runs in the inner harbor between Long Wharf and the Charlestown Navy Yard. Two additional seasonal routes, not funded by the MBTA but included on some MBTA documents, run from Boston to Salem and Winthrop.
  In the 19th century, numerous steamship routes ran from Boston to various destinations in the inner harbor, North Shore, and South Shore, plus routes to elsewhere in New England and to Europe. Ferry service declined in the late 19th century and 20th century due to competition from railways, streetcars, and finally automobiles; by the 1930s, only summer routes plus the East Boston ferry remained.
context_section_description: F1 Boston (Rowes Wharf)–Hingham service runs year-round on weekdays only. The single-ride fare is $9.75; MBTA Commuter Rail passes from Zone 6 and above are accepted.
  F2H Boston (Long Wharf)–Hingham and Hull via Logan Airport service runs year-round on weekdays and weekend service during the summer. Not all trips stop at Logan or Hingham; some also stop at Grape Island and Georges Island. The fare is $9.75 from Hingham and Hull to Boston (with Zone 6 or above passes accepted).
  Ferry service between Boston and Hingham began in 1832; after the South Shore Railroad began operation in 1849, ferries served largely recreational traffic rather than commuters. Service to Hull was added in 1848 (first Allerton Harbor, later Pemberton Point), and to Nantasket Beach in 1869. Service to the Hingham shipyard ended in 1898, though some service to Crow's Point lasted until 1923. Most of the Nantasket Boat Lines ferries were destroyed in a 1929 fire. The service was increasingly unprofitable to run; only summer service lasted past 1933. Hingham service ended in 1952; the last remains of Nantasket service ended in 1963. Massachusetts Bay Lines (MBL) restored year-round Pemberton Point–Boston service in March 1963 – then the only commuter ferry service in the country – followed by seasonal Nantasket service in 1964. Bay State Cruises took over the route in 1980. Paragon Park closed in 1985, and Nantasket service ended again in 1992. In 1996, Bay State Cruises sold the Hull route to Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC), who obtained an MBTA subsidy.
  Renewed Rowes Wharf–Hingham service began with a single round trip on October 6, 1975. The service was initiated by Ed King, then director of the Massachusetts Port Authority. Service was run by several operators, sometimes with state funding, most of the next eight years. In March 1983, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Services began eleven subsidized round trips (reduced to eight that June). The state began subsidizing eight additional round trips by Boston Harbor Commuter Services in 1984 during Southeast Expressway reconstruction. The MBTA began subsidizing service in 1986; after 1991, only Boston Harbor Commuter Services received a subsidy. In the 1990s, expanded ferry service was proposed as an alternative to the controversial return of commuter rail service on the Greenbush Line. Boston Harbor Cruises (which had briefly operated Hingham service in 1978) took over the Hingham–Boston service in 1997.
  In 1996, Water Transportation Associates (WTA), doing business as Harbor Express, began service between Fore River Shipyard in Quincy and Long Wharf via Logan Airport. Two ferries and five years of operations were funded by then-shipyard owner General Dynamics. Quincy–Logan service began on November 18, 1996, with Long Wharf service added several weeks later. In 1998, the MBTA and BHC failed to reach a subsidy agreement. MBTA-subsidized Hull stops were added to several existing WTA Boston-Hingham trips. After the original funding ran out in 2001, the state funded service for the first half of 2002. In April 2002, the MBTA bought the WTA assets (two ferries, the Quincy terminal, and the Long Wharf lease); the WTA later won the contract to run the service. The MBTA designated the Hingham–Boston service as F1 and Quincy–Boston as F2, with trips serving Hull called F2H. Attempts in 2010 and 2011 to restore summer weekend service to Nantasket failed due to high fuel costs. On July 1, 2013, BHC took over Hingham services from WTA.
  Quincy service was temporarily discontinued on October 14, 2013, with boats redirected to Hingham, when a water main break added to existing structural problems with the sea wall at the Quincy wharf. In January 2014, the MBTA made the closure (and increased Hingham service) permanent after it was determined that repairs would cost $15 million for five years of additional service, or $50 million for 50 years. The damage also forced the closure of the USS Salem museum. Quincy proposed Squantum Point as an alternative terminal to maintain ferry service to the city. In July 2014, a neighbori
caption: The MBTA-owned Flying Cloud at Long Wharf on F2/F2H service in 2004
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