00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 38                                                                   
01 Urging the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to use the Alaska marine                                  
02 highway system fast ferries efficiently by deploying the fast ferries in northern Lynn                                  
03 Canal and Prince William Sound beginning in the summer of 2006, and to provide data                                     
04 regularly to the affected communities to enable the communities to evaluate the service                                 
05 effectively.                                                                                                            
06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
07       WHEREAS the Southeast Alaska region is coastal in nature, and the economies have                                
08 evolved around and depend on reliable and predictable patterns of marine transportation; and                            
09       WHEREAS state ferries deliver people, food, health care, supplies, and equipment to                             
10 coastal communities throughout the state, with economic effects far beyond the area in which                            
11 they operate; and                                                                                                       
12       WHEREAS failure to establish and publish baseline schedules at least two years in                               
13 advance for all Alaska marine highway system routes reduces ridership and complicates                                   
14 connections within the system and with other modes of transportation; and                                               
15       WHEREAS inconsistent planning and sudden changes to schedules have caused                                       

01 negative economic effects on communities and their businesses; and                                                      
02       WHEREAS fast vehicle ferries were designed and deployed to upgrade the aging                                    
03 Alaska marine highway system fleet and to supplement the level of service by providing fast,                            
04 efficient, and reliable transportation on point-to-point service runs to better meet local                              
05 demand; and                                                                                                             
06       WHEREAS local communities best understand their transportation needs and have a                                 
07 vested interest in developing local control over long-range strategies;                                                 
08       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Department of                                        
09 Transportation and Public Facilities to                                                                                 
10            (1)  commit, on a year-round basis, a fast vehicle ferry to northern Lynn Canal                              
11 servicing Juneau, Haines, Skagway, and Sitka;                                                                           
12            (2)  return, on a year-round basis, a fast vehicle ferry to Prince William Sound                             
13 servicing Cordova, Valdez, and Whittier;                                                                                
14            (3)  effective October 2006, develop a schedule for these vessels that remains                               
15 unchanged for two years, to determine the true demand and economic feasibility of the fast                              
16 ferries in those respective regions; and                                                                                
17            (4)  provide mayors of the affected communities with relevant data on a                                      
18 quarterly basis to assist the communities with evaluation of the following:                                             
19                 (A)  optimum scheduling and route selection;                                                            
20                 (B)  revenue maximization and operating costs;                                                          
21                 (C)  passenger satisfaction;                                                                            
22                 (D)  overall profitability and efficiency of moving people and goods;                                   
23       and                                                                                                               
24                 (E)  feasibility of development of local ferry authorities.