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Bill Black: The Yarmouth-U.S. ferry is not sustainable

Link to United States has limited economic benefits

A recent trip on the ferry from Saint John, N.B., to Digby, N.S., prompted a thought.

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The ferry was well appointed and completed its journey in two hours and 20 minutes.

The Digby ferry operates year round at modest cost. It is a viable competitor to the ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, N.S., running mid-April till November.

A traveller from Boston would take four hours and 35 minutes to reach Bar Harbor, followed by a three-hour-and-30-minute trip to Yarmouth, a total of just over eight hours. There is one sailing each way per day, fewer in the shoulder seasons.

The same traveller from Boston would take six hours and 20 minutes to drive to Saint John, from which the ferry takes a little over two hours to reach Digby. The total travel time is a negligible difference from the trip through Bar Harbor.

The Digby ferry runs all year, with two round trips daily in the peak season. When a traveller arrives at Digby, they can get to Liverpool and the rest of the South Shore more quickly than from Yarmouth.

The cost for a one-way trip on the Yarmouth ferry in peak season is US$209 for a car and US$121 per adult. The CAT made 119 round trips in 2025, and trips were cancelled because of weather on 13 days. Its maximum capacity is 200 cars per trip.

For the Saint John-Digby ferry, the one-way fees........

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