ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Mar. 1, 2005) — The on- and off-again ferry service between Toronto and Rochester, N.Y. has gotten a new set of sails after the upstate New York city bought the ferry for $32 million US yesterday. The service is expected to resume in May.

The City of Rochester purchased the Spirit of Ontario, also known as the Breeze, at auction. The ferry ran across Lake Ontario last summer for about 80 days before being anchored last September.

The ferry service, which transported about 750 people, 220 passenger cars, and 10 tractor-trailers trucks from downtown Toronto to the mouth of the Genesee River in Rochester, sunk after running up $1.7 million in debt. Former operator Canadian American Transportation Systems blamed U.S. Customs’ inability to accommodate commercial traffic, which the company claimed would have injected $18,000 in daily revenues.

The City of Rochester, which boasts it got a deal on the boat, maintains that those former regulatory hurdles have now been fixed, although there was no word if the city planned to focus on commercial traffic in the same way CATS was hoping for.

The 275-kilometre Toronto-Rochester truck trip usually takes about four hours, not including border delays at Fort Erie, Ont., while the ferry can make it across the lake in just under 2.5 hours.

However, an informal survey by Today’s Trucking at the time showed that there was little interest in the ferry among Southern Ontario carriers, even if the service did find a way to boost capacity. Many cited loading and unloading times, customs delays, and trucker unfriendly traffic routes in downtown Toronto.

Also, despite CATS’ assurance it was well-prepared to handle truck volume, a handful truckers reported to the magazine that customer service reps were “almost clueless” regarding truck issues when they called to inquire about the service.

Rochester Mayor William Johnson Jr., said yesterday he was delighted that the service would resume, adding that the giant catamaran might lead to other high-speed ferry services across the Great Lakes.

Before shutting the service down last year, CATS told Today’s Trucking it was gauging demand for expanded truck services, including a truck-only ferry between Sarnia, Ont. and Cleveland on Lake Erie.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Port Authority said a 38,000-square-foot Canada Customs terminal on the Canadian side is almost complete. The final interior finishing phase of the Toronto terminal is scheduled to take 75 days.

— with files from Associated Press