"NJ Transit is certainly supportive of Waterway's ferry operation, which is an integral part of the transportation network in this region," said Penny Bassett Hackett, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit. "We will continue to talk to them about opportunities to work closely together."

The agency's response mirrored the Port Authority's to Arthur Imperatore Sr.'s interest in having a public entity acquire Waterway.

Imperatore, the company's 83-year-old chief executive, said this week that he could be forced to declare bankruptcy without financial aid.

Waterway, the region's dominant ferry operator, has seen ridership plummet 12 percent over the past year, to 26,400 commuters a day, and is now losing $800,000 a month.

Both NJ Transit and the Port Authority have spent hundreds of millions of dollars replacing or refurbishing docks and terminals in recent years to support ferry service in general.

In fact, the new $50 million terminal at the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan — a Port Authority project — will open today.

In addition, NJ Transit has integrated ferry service into its train, bus and light rail operation, since most of Waterway's customers are New Jerseyans. Commuters, for example, can reach the Weehawken terminal via bus or light rail or get on the ferry in Hoboken when they get off the train.

NJ Transit spent $44 million to build a new Weehawken terminal three years ago and is working with the Port Authority now on restoring the historic slips at Hoboken.

In New York, Metro-North Railroad and the state Department of Transportation contract with Waterway to provide ferry service between Newburgh and Beacon and Haverstraw and Ossining.