This Toronto Ferry is a MUST DO

Trains Are Awesome!

Date of filming: June 13, 2024
Camera: iPhone 15

[wilfstor]

Local here. Trillium is operational, just not a regular service vessel. It only operates in the summer, if one of the two ferries are out of service on the Centre Island route, and the remaining one can't handle the demand. It's a heritage ferry, and as far as we are all aware, it's staying in the fleet after the others are retired as a result. It got an overhaul in 2017 to computerize it's boilers, so safe to say it's not forgotten.

Ongiara is my personal favorite vessel, because it has an unusual operating practice of putting the forward engine in reverse for a miniscule boost. It's also frequently the least busy ferry, which is helpful for traveling with a bike. It is the only ferry that runs 365 days of the year.

[Ponchoed]

Bremerton - Port Orchard foot ferry in Washington state was built in 1917, still in operation and operated by Kitsap Transit. Carlisle II ferry.

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

The PS Trillium was named after a genus of flowers. Trillium species are native to temperate regions of North America and Asia, with the greatest diversity of species found in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern US. The white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) serves as the official flower and emblem of Ontario. The Ongiara that you saw at 1:44 is a car ferry, and was built in Owen Sound, Ontario by Russel Brothers and commissioned in 1963. It can hold 220 passengers, and has carried City-owned vehicles that need to access the island. Her name comes from a Mohawk word for point of land cut into two. The Jack Layton that the ferry terminal is named after, was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. From 2004 to 2011, he was MP for Toronto-Danforth. He was a once a city councilor in Toronto as well, and during his tenure, he occasionally held the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto. He passed away from cancer in August 2011. His wife was Olivia Chow, who he married in 1988 in a ceremony on the Toronto Islands, who was elected as the city's mayor in 2023.

The DPRK has its own ferry, the Man Gyong Bong 92 cargo-passenger ferry, named after a hill near Pyongyang. The ferry was built in 1992 with funds from Chongryon, the pro-DPRK General Association of Korean Residents in Japan and was used to transport passengers and cargo between the DPRK and Japan. On board the ship and its 1971 predecessor Man Gyong Bong, over 93, 000 Zainichi Koreans and about 6, 000 Japanese moved to the DPRK between 1959 and 1984. The ferry could carry 200 passengers and 1, 000 tons of cargo. Before Japan banned all North Korean vessels from its waters in 2006, it made about one to two round trips per month between Niigata and Wonsan, with a one-way trip lasting about 28 hours. Most of the passengers were North Korean zainichi visiting relatives or students of a Chongryon school on a study trip. These voyages continued until 2006 when Japan banned DPRK ships from its waters. In 2011 the ship trialed a route between Rason and Mount Kumgang. The tourists would meet in Yanji, China and drive three hours to Rason, DPRK. The Man Gyong Bong 92 would take them to Mount Kumgang, a scenic tourist destination complete with beaches and a golf resort (Mount Kumgang was also where there was a limited amount of family reunions for separated families as the result of peace talks). This area is in the DPRK but was jointly operated by the DPRK and ROK until the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist by a DPRK soldier in 2008, upon which all ROK property at Mount Kumgang was seized by the DPRK. In 2018, the ship carried a 140-person delegation, as well as an art troupe, for the 2018 Winter Olympics and docked in Mukho port in Donghae, Gangwon.

[ByzantineCalvinist]

Almost a dozen years ago, I took the ferry between Billy Bishop Airport and the Toronto mainland during a trip to Montreal. The time was measured in seconds rather than minutes. Very short indeed. Afterwards it occurred to me that on that single journey I had travelled by train (VIA Rail), taxi, bus, plane, and boat! Everything but an ox cart!

[OntarioTrafficMan]

It's fun to take the ferry in winter, with the boat smashing a path through the ice

[vikingblood]

My Mother lived on Wards Island during the 2nd WW years with her Mother while my Grandfather was overseas with the Toronto Scottish Regiment.

[PaulCashman]

"Ferries Are Awesome, Too" :)
We took our car on the Dorena-Hickman Ferry across the Mississippi between Kentucky and Missouri last summer (it avoids the southern tip of Illinois). It is one of the very few remaining riverboat ferries in the U.S. and the only ferry connecting KY and MO. It was fun; the ferry platform is an unpowered barge and the wheelhouse portion pushes everything back, then detaches, spins around, and reattaches facing forward again. Really nifty "dance" to watch.

[DanTheCaptain]

While these ferries have a lot of character, they’re showing their age and it’s time they retire. It’s also not great that the fares aren’t integrated with the rest of the Toronto transit system. It would be great if the TTC took over operations again and made it a SeaBus style operation. It would loose a lot of its character, but it would smooth things up, especially in the summer when the islands get swarmed by hoards of locals and tourists. Payment by presto card would certainly be very welcome!

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

William Inglis was initially called the Shamrock, but after the death of Toronto industrialist William Inglis, who headed John Inglis and Company, in November 1935, the ferry was renamed in his honor by the city council. Inglis also served as the president of the Canadian National Exhibition (which was founded in 1879 and takes place annually) and was one of the governors of Toronto Western Hospital. In August 1948, the William Inglis participated in the saving of 12 people, whose racing sloop had capsized in the harbor. Three of the twelve clinging to the mast were brought aboard the ferry before speedboats arrived from the John St. Lifesaving Station and recovered the others. Toronto has a pretty unique free ferry that connects the mainland to Billy Bishop Airport, also on one of the Toronto Islands, unique because it's one of the shortest ferries in the world since it only covers 122 m in distance. Since 2015, there's a pedestrian tunnel to the airport too. The Toronto islands remind me of Fire Island off the coast of Long Island! A mostly car-free barrier island, whose ferries also serve as lifelines. Fire Island is a beacon for the LGBTQ+ community on Long Island. Fire Island is more than just a summer hangout spot (which Fire Island is quite famous for, Mel Brooks wrote 2000 Year Old Man on Fire Island, John Lennon once had a piano shipped to Fire Island and said piano is now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), it's a place that people choose to live year-round, so the ferries are a lifeline for getting crucial things from the mainland, as well as beach to beach water taxis connecting the isolated communities. Not just the ferries, but the LIRR's Montauk Branch serves as a lifeline for the Fire Island communities, as the Montauk Branch has connections to the ferries for the nearly car-free communities.

Housing is mostly stick-built bungalow-style with generous helpings of bamboo. There are no roads on Fire Island and highways are "walks" in most communities, made of wood or concrete, or sandy trails left fairly rustic between communities and areas of the National Seashore. For year-round residents, there are shops, churches, and even a school district! Yes, Fire Island has its own school district as well, from pre-K to 6th. All of the buses that carry students have 4-wheel drives so that they can easily traverse the beach, walks, and conventional roadways they use to transport students each day. Even the teachers ride the buses, as some don't reside within the district territory. Students who graduate from the school can choose to go to either Bay Shore or Islip for secondary levels. Back in 1992, the school had 47 students, with nine residing on Coast Guard property and three living on the Fire Island Lighthouse and Sailor's Haven park ranger properties. Students can board these buses to the mainland as well. The people of Fire Island have been able to keep their communities (mostly) car-free thanks to fighting off a Robert Moses highway. After he built a causeway to the western end as well as Ocean Parkway on Jones Beach Island, the communities fought back during the two attempts he tried to get construction authorized and they succeeded in keeping Fire Island unique. In 1964, President LBJ signed a bill that created the Fire Island National Seashore. The incorporated Ocean Beach and Saltaire within Fire Island National Seashore are car-free during the summer tourist season (Memorial Day through Labor Day) and permit only pedestrian and bicycle traffic (during certain hours only in Ocean Beach). For off-season use, there are a limited number of driving permits for year-round residents and contractors. The hamlet of Davis Park allows no vehicles or bicycles year-round. Fire department vehicles are also heavily modified four-wheel drive with suspension lifts, large diameter off-road tires and recovery equipment. Due to relatively close distances, fire departments on Fire Island are obliged to provide mutual aid to neighboring communities. Some coastal fire departments on Long Island have fully equipped marine rescue and fireboat units which can cross the Great South Bay to provide necessary assistance to Fire Island.

[thomasrobinson]

Welcome to my Hometown. Thom. Yes it tends to get chilly on the ferry but, the islands are are a great place to spend your day. Glad to hear you had a great time

[Cupertinorail]

Thanks for highlighting the importance of ferries. I think medium sized cities such as Portland could benefit from one.

[classicalmidiorgans]

You should try the Ferry between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island Ontario. 2 hours. Next Spring. Way more exciting and very good food service

[twicesaida]

I love Twice Saida, Namo and Michaeng.

[peterdowden]

❤ how you said #notjustbikes perhaps inadvertently

[ck]

What a delightful summer day to ride this awesome ferry!!! Thanks for bringing it all to us as well as the history and awesome footage!!!

[rikkichunn]

What a delightful surprise, Thom! You covered the ferry ride beautifully, and a trip on a ferry was a delightful surprise! Like many other viewers, I had no idea Toronto had islands in the river. Looks like fun!

[jamesrea]

How fun! I’ve been to Toronto a few times but I never heard of this. If I ever go back I’ll definitely have to check it out.

[WheelchairGuyHobbyChannel]

Those trains you featured in this video were really awesome! 😂

[BDavinci]

I went here in October 2017 on a crisp fall morning. I probably rode on that same ferry boat, but I went to a different part of the islands and took a lot of pictures around it, even some of them of the Toronto skyline. It'd be wonderful to go back again the next time I come up to Toronto!

[alk]

Looks like a beautiful place to visit. And you'd never know you are that close to a huge metropolis.