What others say: Ferry system should become public corporation

  • Tuesday, November 29, 2016 5:32pm
  • Opinion

Alaska’s ferry system should become a public corporation.

That’s what a Southeast Conference steering committee of stakeholders has come to realize. The committee began meeting this year with the intent of reforming the ferry system.

Department of Transportation Commissioner Marc Luiken endorsed the idea this week, allowing that answers to a few questions remain. But he overall expressed support for operating the system like a business.

It truly is what needs to happen.

The first ferry — the Malaspina — came on line in 1963, cruising around Southeast and into Prince Rupert. The Taku and the Matanuska followed and the system expanded to about a dozen boats and into other regions of the state. It has been serving about 35 communities ranging over 3,500 miles.

It’s a necessary and appreciated system, but it also is a subsidized one that has been strained to stay on course through each changing political wind. Taking at least some of the politics out of operating the system should eliminate the complications that come with it.

The ferry system also has found state funding challenging. With its primary service area in rural Alaska, the major population centers’ legislators often look to the system as a place to reduce expenses.

The looming state budget deficit already is a factor in ferries being docked and service routes being reduced even in the system’s busiest summertime season.

Converting the system into a public corporation would be similar to the Alaska Railroad.

The steering committee’s recommendation comes as a result of work completed by consultants Elliot Bay Design Group and McDowell Group.

With that recommendation, the next step will be to write a business plan.

The committee is moving quickly in relation to what often transpires with committees. The plan is expected to be complete in January.

The committee’s effort is something that inspires hope in communities dependent upon the system’s service. The service is a large part of some of these communities’ economies, specifically Ketchikan’s where the system headquarters is located and where two new ferries are being constructed in Ketchikan Shipyard.

Like the state-owned shipyard and the railroad, the ferry system can be a successful business.

— Ketchikan Daily News,

Nov. 26

More in Opinion

Dawson Slaughter is president of the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce and a candidate for State House District 6. (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Children, education, obligation

Our children and the future children of Alaskans must always be the priority and first in our education concerns

The Exxon Baton Rouge, smaller ship, attempts to off-load crude from the Exxon Valdez that ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska, spilling over 270,000 barrels of crude oil, shown March 26, 1989. (AP Photo/Rob Stapleton)
Point of View: Exxon Valdez oil spill brought out local heroes

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound 35 years ago, local people sprang to respond long before Exxon provided any help

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: No Alaska governor has ever so boldly held schools and students as political hostages

‘Star Trek’ reference looks past real argument for school funding

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge: Supporting education

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Rep. Ben Carpenter, a Nikiski Republican, speaks in opposition to overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Rep. Ben Carpenter: Education is too important to keep getting wrong

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Point of View: Some state lawmakers need to embrace reality, not PFD political theater

State revenues minus public services do not leave enough in the checkbook to pay an oversized dividend

Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, speaks about teacher bonuses during consideration a bill increasing state funds for public education in the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Rep. Ben Carpenter: Holding up a mirror to state government

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman: Ensuring food security for Alaska

Capitol Corner: Legislators report back from Juneau

Most Read