The ferry systems are developed worldwide in the locations, where it is impossible to build numerous cross sound bridges to provide an efficient commuter service. In large metropolitan cities, such as Sydney and Washington, fast ferry passenger systems carry enormous amounts of people daily. For instance, only in its first year of service, the Washington State Ferries? operated ferry system carried approximately four million passengers. Today, WSF is the largest ferry system in the USA, serving eight counties within Washington and the Province of British Columbia in Canada.
In Sydney, people do not see their daily life without a ferry travel and it is the major transport, which they use to go either to school or to the office. However, a ferry passenger cannot feel safe onboard, even when traveling with a respectable ferry company like one in Sydney. The recent accident happened to a twenty nine year old American tourist, who found herself in hospital with cuts to her face, when a Manly ferry with about one hundred and eighty people onboard hit a wharf at the Sydney's Circular Quay. The passengers announced that the ferry was going too fast, when it approached the wharf. Three other passengers got minor injuries.
An accident is not the most evil that can happen to a ferry passenger. A ferry, carrying about one thousand and four hundred people, most of them Egyptians, sank in the Red Sea. Fourteen bodies and about one hundred survivors were pulled out from the water. The cause on the sinking is still unknown and not all the bodies are found. It looks as if we live in the times of Titanic and our ?advanced technologies? do not allow to prevent accidents. Note that it is not a natural disaster, which can be unpredictable, it is an accident, caused by either the carelessness or neglect.
Needless to say that the accident caused an enormous shock and tragedy among hundreds of families, who lost their family members. The officials announced that ships, operated by the same company, had been involved in past tragedies, including one that sank last year. No cases were properly investigated or put the company's owner to the trial. The majority of passengers were Egyptian workers, returning from Saudi Arabia, and who spent years abroad to earn money for their impoverished families.
Undeniably, ferries are a lifeline for many communities and there is a need for a reliable ferry service to meet a growing demand and to maintain the safety of each ferry passenger. Perhaps, one of the safest ferry systems is Washington State Ferries; at least, no accidents are reported. The company announces that the safety and security of each ferry passenger is the main priority in the ferry system development. WSF is constantly working with their security partners - Washington State Patrol and the US Coast Guard to provide the security and safety to each ferry passenger. The Staten Island Ferry is also considered one of the most reliable forms of a mass transit, carrying over nineteen million passengers annually on a five point two mile run between the St. George Terminal in the Staten Island and the Whitehall Terminal in lower Manhattan.