Trust me: none of the other ferry riders will want to have anything to do with us.

For ferry riders, current security measures are not very intrusive.

But soon, Ms. Zahn's life, and those of other ferry riders like her, will change back.

By 5 P.M., the number of ferry riders had reached 3,000.

"That's a potential market of 7,000 ferry riders," Mr. Nicholson said.

Still, regular ferry riders swear by the service.

"This is all so silly, ridiculous," said a ferry rider, Joe Gordon.

Every ferry rider, no matter how jaded, is susceptible to occasional gaping.

For death to rend such interludes was, for ferry riders, a shock that could hardly be more complete.

About 400,000 ferry riders pass through the community each year.