Sneak preview of the new Toronto Island ferry design, from Toronto Island Advisory Committee meeting today at City Hall.
The new ferries will more or less keep the iconic look we all know. All the existing ferries will be replaced in coming years; they are all far past their operational lifetime. There’s funding now for two boats, one for passengers only, the other for passengers and vehicles. Two more will come later. They are longer than the present ferries, about a metre wider, with greater capacity, and are designed to use the same docks.
The new passenger-only ferry will hold around 1300 people versus 800 or 900 now.
The passenger/vehicle ferry will hold around 650 people or more depending the number of vehicles. They will be electricity-diesel hybrids. Possibly we’ll see the first new ferry as early as 2021. Washrooms are on both floors. This passenger/vehicle ferry will be able to break ice only to some extent, as an ice breaker ferry designed to break thick ice would be prohibitively expensive.
