Alaska to Bellingham Ferry Service Down to One Trip Per Week

[Via Komo] We've been loosely planning our Alaska adventure for a few weeks now. Loosely, we say, because we haven't actually made any reservations yet. Mostly we've just been cruising the web, gathering information and daydreaming about sitting out on the deck of a ferry as it makes its way through the inside passage of America's 49th state.

We have routinely been checking the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) website for the summer schedule and have been surprised each time to see that it still hasn't been posted. "What the hell?" we grumble to ourselves.

Well, well -- the news today provides not only the answer to this question, but also a steaming pile of bad news.

Deputy Transportation Commissioner Dennis Hardy told the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday that because of increased maintenance time and costs, it would have to cut the Bellingham trips to one per week. This, of course, means a new schedule (web and print) must be generated.

The news didn't sit well with the committee, who are concerned both with the fact that the schedule had yet to be published, and with the obvious financial hit the new schedule could mean for Alaskan communities.

House Transportation Committee members were critical of the agency's lack of detail and questioned the state's long-term commitment to a marine highway system it calls a statewide rather than a Southeast Alaska asset.

"I don't see you guys out there being proactive," said committee Chairman Kyle Johansen, R-Ketchikan, whose town is considered a gateway to the Southeast from Canadian waters.

"Where is the proactive effort by the department saying, 'Hey this is what we need to do it?"' he asked. "It's tough every year. It would be nice to fight with you rather than against you."

The committee called Hardy because it wanted to know why a ferry schedule had not yet been released with the summer travel season just five months away.