Ketchikan, her close community neighbors and all of Southeast Alaska are in danger. We are at risk of losing our Alaska Marine Highway System ferry run to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, permanently.
Ferry service to Prince Rupert is vital. It is the only way we can reach the mainland quickly at a reasonable cost. Prince Rupert is less than a seven-hour trip from Ketchikan versus a 44-hour trip to Bellingham, Washington.
The one-way fare to Prince Rupert is approximately $400 for a Subaru, driver, one passenger and a dog, while the fare for the same folks to Bellingham is just under $2,000 one way. How many Southeast residents can afford to spend $2,000 just to get to the mainland and then spend it again just to get home? Not everyone wants to get to the mainland in order to go south anyway. Many want to head east, away from Seattle.
The Alaska Department of Transportation claims that it cannot afford to sacrifice any of the Bellingham runs to Prince Rupert because: The Columbia cannot dock in Prince Rupert; the Kennicott requires more crew than they have available; the Matanuska is in need of steel replacement and DOT does not want to spend the money to do the job; and the Bellingham run produces the most revenue. Is that gross or net revenue?
Fuel is 52% of the cost of ferry service, so the 595 miles to Bellingham burns a lot more fuel than the 90 miles to Prince Rupert, 650% more in fact. Would more 90-mile trips to Prince Rupert that burn less fuel produce more revenue than trips to Bellingham? I would like to see the math. Further, ridership from Bellingham is declining and has been since 2013; at last count it was down almost 20%.
My request to DOT/AMHS is to reinstate the twice-weekly Prince Rupert run as soon as possible. If that means substituting some runs to Prince Rupert instead of Bellingham, that should be done. Southeast Alaska should not be ignored and left with no access to the road system except the long, expensive trip to Bellingham.
Nothing will happen, however, if residents are complacent. Send letters to rep.dan.ortiz@akleg.gov, sen.bert.stedman@akleg.gov, AMHS at amhob@alaska.gov and to the Wrangell Sentinel at wrgsentinel@gmail.com.
Mary Lynne Dahl
Ketchikan
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