This list of potential bidders was reduced to three companies by 1993. One of these ferries was to be a ferry from Staten Island to midtown Manhattan; this new ferry would travel at top speeds of , as opposed to the existing Whitehall-to-St. George ferry's . New York Fast Ferry was ultimately selected to run a ferry from St. George to East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, starting service in January 1997 with about 1,650 commuters a day using the service. The Midtown ferry proved successful until the city essentially eliminated the competing Whitehall Street route's fare in July 1997, as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s "one-city, one-fare" transfer scheme: Staten Island transit riders could pay a single $1.50 fare with a MetroCard on a Staten Island bus or train and get a free transfer to a Manhattan bus or subway by taking the St. George–Whitehall ferry at no additional cost, with return trips handled similarly. As a result, daily ridership on the $5-per-ticket Midtown ferry decreased to 400 passengers, and New York Fast Ferry was unable to make a profit on the route. New York Fast Ferry went out of business at the end of 1997, at which point NY Waterway took over the route. NY Waterway also failed to break even on the Midtown route, and it was eliminated on July 31, 1998. Immediately after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Staten Island ferryboats were used to evacuate attack victims from the World Trade Center. The line was then temporarily closed for a week, with ferry service restored by September 18. When it reopened, some ferries were diverted to Bay Ridge due to the closures of subways and roads across the East River. This continued into 2002, by which time some 2,200 passengers per day were using the ferry, and continued to do so even after the subways and highways were reopened. In 2003, both terminals' lower levels were closed, and all vehicular traffic on the ferry was banned, due to the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Under this act, passengers would have to board and depart from different sections of the ferry; and since the lower levels of each ferry were used for departing, they could not be used for boarding. This made boarding the ferry inconvenient for park-and-ride users at the St. George Terminal. The lower levels of each terminal were reopened in 2017, to reduce passenger crowding on the ships' upper levels. The St. George Terminal's lower level was opened during morning rush, and the Whitehall Terminal's lower level was opened during middays and the evening rush.