SACO — A ferry service for commuters who go to the University of New England has begun a trial run.

For the next three weeks, students and staff members will be able to walk, drive or bike to Camp Ellis and take a three-minute boat ride across the Saco River to the Biddeford campus.

Additional Photos

John Ewing/Staff Photographer “Captain Carl” Lagerstrom operates the 24-foot maritime skiff that shuttles passengers back and forth across the Saco River for a three-week pilot river ferry service. Photos by John Ewing/Staff Photographer

UNE staffers Karl Carrigan, left, and Jeanne Hey, who lives in Saco, were on the inaugural run across the Saco River on Monday.

UNE’s student government has funded a three-week pilot river ferry service which will transport passengers between Camp Ellis in Saco and the UNE pier in Biddeford. The ferry service enticed both UNE faculty and media members on its inaugural day Monday. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

The pilot program, funded by UNE’s Undergraduate Student Government, will help the university gauge interest in the service, which is free during the trial, to determine whether it’s worth running regularly.

Giving commuters a way to cut down on driving is meant to help the university advance its goal of becoming carbon-neutral — a mission outlined in a “climate action plan” signed by UNE President Danielle Ripich in 2008.

For commuters, additional incentives to take the ferry include reducing their travel time and saving gas money, though a fee may be charged in the future.

Jeanne Hey, dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences and one of the first ferry passengers, said the environmental impact is enough reason for her to change the way she gets to work.

“Taking the ferry involves a tiny bit of change in our schedule, but taking those gallons of burnt fuel out of the air is totally worth it,” said Hey, who lives in Saco.

The ferry shaves 10 minutes off Hey’s regular half-hour commute. Plus, it makes for a beautiful start to the day, she said, pointing to ducks on the river during the ferry’s first run Monday morning.

“See? You don’t see that when you’re driving,” she said.

The ferry will run weekdays, from 7:30 to 9 in the morning and from 4 to 5:30 in the afternoon, through April 27.

If enough commuters show interest this month, the service will be offered next school year for eight weeks in the fall and four weeks in the spring, said Alethea Cariddi, the university’s sustainability coordinator.

She said the service, run by Bare Knee Point Kayak Rentals of Saco, costs $1,000 per week to run. That means it would take 40 commuters a day, paying a $5 fee, for the program to support itself.

By registering with Go Maine, the state Department of Transportation’s commuter program, passengers who need to get home when the ferry isn’t operating would be eligible for eight free cab rides per year.

Commuters have the option of bringing their bicycles onto the ferry — a 24-foot boat with plastic chairs for six passengers.

Karl Carrigan did on Monday.

Carrigan, who works in the university’s technology department, said Camp Ellis is only about a mile closer to his home in Saco than the UNE campus is. But he would happily take the ferry several times a week to support the initiative.

“It’s fun,” he said.

Although faculty and staff members were the only passengers on the ferry’s first few runs, UNE senior Ryan Kingston expects the service will catch on with students soon.

“It’s just a matter of getting the word out there,” said Kingston, a student government representative.

The genesis of the program was a study done by students in an environmental science class, Cariddi said. The results, which showed that the service was feasible, were presented to the university’s Environmental Council — a group of students, faculty and staff members that reports to the president.

Kingston, a member of the council, brought the concept to the student government, which approved funding in the fall for the pilot program.

The dock on the Biddeford side of the river, used by the university’s Marine Science Education and Research Center, went into the water last week, Cariddi said.

Brothers George and Carl Lagerstrom, who own Bare Knee Point Kayak, believe the start of the program this week marks the first time since the 1920s that there has been ferry service on the Saco River.

“We’re hoping this takes off,” George Lagerstrom said.

Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at: lbridgers@pressherald.com

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