ST. GEORGE — The Staten Island Ferry had a record number of riders this past year with 23.1 million people taking the free trip between Staten Island and Manhattan.
Ridership on the boat increased by 5 percent from July 2015 to June 2016 over the previous year and cleared the previous record of 22.2 million riders set in 2012, the Staten Island Advance first reported.
Since the previous record was set, ridership decreased to 21.3 million in 2013 and 21 million in 2014, according to the Mayor's Management Report which tracks the numbers.
Last year, the city increased Staten Island Ferry service to run round the clock half-hour trips and ridership increased to 21.9 million that year.
The report also found that 92.3 percent of the Staten Island Ferry trips were on time this year, a slight increase from the 92.1 percent last year and a jump from the 88.9 percent in 2012.
The estimated cost to the city for each passenger to take the ride, which is free to users, is $5.87. That did not change from the previous year, according to the report.
A report recently released by Community Board 1's Ferry Riders Committee found that approximately 13,000 tourists take the ferry on the weekend, or 44 percent of all passengers.
The report — which was conducted by counting which passengers immediately made the return trip one Saturday in August — said the numbers would make the ferry one of the most popular attractions in the city for visitors.
Members of Community Board 1 and the Young Democrats of Staten Island also released a report last month calling on the Department of Transportation to clean the toilets, add more trash cans and have better crowd control to make the ferry ride better.
"Staten Island's front door is very dirty right now," Dominick DeRubbio, president of the Young Democrats, previously told DNAinfo New York.
"This is the front door to Staten Island and that plaza has become uninhabitable. It's not being maintained in the manner that it should be."
