Staten Island Ferry to expand service, run every half hour around the clock

NEW YORK -- The Staten Island Ferry will run every half hour around the clock starting this week.

The Staten Island Advance reports that the service expansion will start at 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

The expansion will add four new weekday trips between 1 and 5 a.m. in each direction.

There will be three additional weekend departures between 3 and 6 a.m. in each direction.

Ferries will run every 30 minutes on holidays as well.

New York City has been providing ferry service between Staten Island and lower Manhattan since 1905.

The 50-cent fare was dropped in 1997. The city currently subsidizes each trip at a cost of about $5.87.