I am almost a lifetime SE Alaskan and my wife and I are current residents of Wrangell. I moved to Ketchikan in 1943 when I was ten years old and have lived and worked in almost every major Southeast Alaska city including Ketchikan, Juneau, Wrangell and Sitka and played a lot of high school basketball in Petersburg. I continue to invest in institutions that provide services in each of those communities including Haines and Skagway. I cite these facts because I know how sensitive SE residents are to suggestions offered by well-meaning persons who have never lived in the southern part of our great state.
There is an achievable solution that can save the ferry system from passing into oblivion. It must start right now with the Legislature and the Administration, because it's all about the level of state funds allocated to the AMHS.
I participated in the meeting of the Alaska Marine Transportation System of which I am a member, on January 15, 2020, by telephone conference. The participants represented nearly all of the 35 communities served by the Marine Highway System. Topics ranged from compelling statements on the importance of the system to the smaller roadless communities as well as the reliance on the ferry to provide transportation for regional high school sports.
The most important single action that must be taken now is to have an operational plan that allows the AMHS to grow. Only then can it prosper. At this time we do not know at what level the budget will be funded so we must make some assumptions.
In the case of the AMHS, the growth can only come as a consequence of a feeder system: the two are the ports of Prince Rupert and Bellingham bringing visitors to our state and Alaskans traveling north and south. These routes are where our major revenues originate. The state must maintain the weekly sailings to Bellingham and the Prince Rupert route at least twice weekly schedules. These are the feeder routes. The service can be sustained by a vigorous marketing program in the Pacific Northwest, including advertising in the Alaska Airlines magazine. Rates must be competitive. Currently, some cruise ships offer rates to Alaska less than our ferries. The reservation system must be improved, perhaps by contracting out and the ships must be flexible and crewed to handle the anticipated increase in traffic, both for vehicles and passengers.
The ferries on the PR route would run from PR to Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau and less frequently, to Sitka. Passengers to Haines and Skagway would then connect to the Alaska Class vessels the Tazlina and the Hubbard in Juneau. A favorable factor for cutting costs on this run would be the eventual development of the Cascade Point terminal which would allow the Alaska class ferry to make the Haines run each day.
A routing and ship utilization such as this would provide the feeder traffic to Alaska with utilization of routes out of either Haines or Skagway to the interior or south on the ALCAN Highway.
For this operational plan to be successful the feeder routes must be funded by the Legislature as the top priority for the system because it will sustain the inter-SE Alaska traffic as well.
Hopefully, the AMHS will have some unallocated funds. These can be used to serve other routes based on traffic and revenue generation. The Tustumina or its replacement will continue to serve the established routes less frequently as funding allows.
The point I want to emphasize is: If we can build up the demand for the PR-Bellingham trade we can help fund other rural routes as we are able.
We should establish a working relationship with the IFF (Inter Island Ferry) operating from Kechikan to Hollis, connecting the paved 100 miles of highway with Craig, Hydaburg and Klawock. IFF operates 2 vessels, the Stikine and the Prince of Wales. One vessel is on standby. There is an opportunity to service the north end void at Coffman Cove on POW Island by attracting camper traffic. Over 200 travel conventions are held in the Lower 48 each year. Presentations could be at those conventions promoting fishing, camping and hiking by local residents of the Prince of Wales area.
I believe that this concept of an efficient feeder system is the future of growing the routes and increasing the revenue. Alaska has become the #1 cruise destination of US tourists. There is no reason that in a few years we couldn't see numbers approaching 500,000 camper tourists, but we must be competitive in cost.
A policy directive coming from the Legislature focused on growing the system would be necessary, and in addition the directive would remove the existing AMHS from the state DOT to a separate state owned corporation like the Alaska Railroad. A recent review of the debacle of the Alaska class ships in design, engineering, the Haines docking facility crew capacity and change orders points out why every consultant has stated that the ferry system needs to be set up as a state corporation independent of the DOT. We have had four governors and four changes of administration during the development of the Alaska Class vessels, and therefore, no accountability.
Assistance for servicing the smaller rural routes should be reviewed to see if a regional system with funding being obtained through AIEDA, with partnership from regional native corporations and private operators or communities could be established similar to the service of the historic mail boats which previously operated in Southeast Alaskan waters.
A strong feeder system from Prince Rupert and Bellingham to Alaska connecting with our SE mainlines in Ketchikan can turn the ferry system into a successful and needed marine transportation service. Most importantly, it can sustain the backbone of our mainline system so necessary in transitioning to the already authorized SE Alaska Transportation Plan.
We cannot wait another year to make the necessary policy changes and get the AMHS truly serving the needs of the roadless communities of Southeast Alaska.
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