High-speed ferry service is latest Hamptons travel option
Two ferry companies and a bus service are joining forces to offer new travel options to the Hamptons that do not require a helicopter flight or a slog on the Long Island Expressway.
Starting Friday, New Jersey-based Seastreak plans to run high-speed catamarans to Port Jefferson from Manhattan and Highlands, New Jersey.
In Port Jefferson, passengers can connect to the Hampton Jitney, the long-running bus service to eastern Long Island, with stops in Calverton, Southampton, Sag Harbor and East Hampton.
The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. will link Connecticut passengers to the bus service. The trip from Manhattan to the Hamptons will take about 3 hours; from Connecticut the trip is about 2 1/2 hours.
The service runs Friday through Sunday, and the number of trips will vary by day.
The partnership, called Sea Jitney, is scheduled to operate until Sept. 9. One-way tickets range from $33 to $50 depending on the starting point and destination.
Hampton Jitney president Geoffrey Lynch said in a news release Tuesday that the partnership was "an innovative idea that came from three established and respected area transportation companies working together to give people choices."
Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant said in the release that the service will have "an extremely low impact on our infrastructure while introducing visitors to our beautiful, historic village."
Sea Jitney officials plan to celebrate the partnership on June 5 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. at the Port Jefferson ferry terminal.
Fred Hall, general manager of Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co., called the service a "game changer" for people traveling from Connecticut to the Hamptons.
"At two-and-a-half hours from Bridgeport to Southampton, it's shorter than going through New York City and much less stressful," he said in the release.
Sea Jitney joins a growing array of companies that have launched in the past year to shuttle people by land, sea and air to beaches and summer homes in the Hamptons.
GroundLink, a Manhattan-based car service, announced Wednesday that it is providing Hamptons Private Driver, a service that offers a mobile app for booking door-to-door car and van rides to the East End.
BLADE, which launched last spring, and Gotham Air, which launched in January, allow passengers to electronically book helicopter flights to the Hamptons.
East Hampton Town officials are fighting in court to implement new noise regulations aimed at limiting air traffic over the East End. A federal judge is expected to decide by June 8 whether the laws -- which were to take effect this week -- can be enforced this summer while a lawsuit brought by the aviation industry plays out.
