Saturday, July 16, 2005
By Dave Alexander
CHRONICLE BUSINESS EDITOR

There is no "sophomore jinx" with the Lake Express high-speed ferry service.

The long lines this summer at the Lakeside ferry terminal building can attest to that.

Improved service and operations have the ferry service moving into mid-summer without one canceled run between Milwaukee and Muskegon. Sporadic cancellations were a problem for the ferry during its first season last year.

"There was no sophomore jinx," said Joanne Hatch, a long-time tourism industry official and key Lake Express staffer in Muskegon. "We didn't even have the freshman 15's."

And only three crossings of the three-times-a-day service that began its second season May 14 have been significantly off schedule, said Lake Express President Ken Szallai.

Lake Express officials will not disclose actual passenger numbers. However, Szallai said "the trend is definitely up" and that the ferry is meeting or exceeding second-year projections.

"It is clear that we are experiencing growth," Szallai said. "And people seem pleased with our upgrades. People are happy with the experience."

Ferry officials had indicated that Lake Express carried more than 110,000 passengers in 2004, when Muskegon-to-Milwaukee ferry service was reintroduced for the first time since 1970.

Szallai said ridership in the VIP business class is up 49 percent this year over the same period in 2004. Over the winter, the ferry service revamped and improved business class amenities and services.

That upgrade has increased overall business travel on the vessel, Szallai said.

© 2005 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission.