The functional design of ferry terminals requires the exercise of a variety of skills and knowledge from such diverse areas as traffic engineering, pedestrian design, transit planning, and vessel operation. Specific types of ferry services are defined, and research findings are presented on how the terminal should be selected and the facilities planned to accommodate these services. For passenger-only ferry operations, planning guidelines are presented for passenger storage and processing facilities, including parking areas, waiting rooms, gangways, and other terminal elements. For vehicle-ferry terminals, guidelines are presented for toll facilities, vehicle sorting and holding areas, discharge demand needs, and other elements of vehicle-ferry terminals.

In March of 1979, the Transportation Training and Research Center of the Polytechnic Institute of New York was awarded the first year of a proposed three-year study to prepare a manual on the planning and functional design of ferry systems. The study is being funded under the University Research Program of the US Maritime Administration. The first year of the study (! l focused on issues of functional design of various system elements. This paper treats these aspects with respect to the complex interface between the vessel and land: the ferry terminal.