Guest Commentary

There has been a concentrated effort the past few years to develop a long-term solution to the many problems of our ferry system. The effort has been led by the Alaska Department of Transportation. The department has hired several consulting firms over the years including the Spaulding Group, McDowell Group, Northern Economics and the governor’s “reshaping work group,” at a cost to the state of several hundred thousand dollars.

These reports have done a good job identifying problems, yet very few of their proposed solutions have been acted upon. One consistent recommendation of all the consult...