State transportation officials are trying to decide between roads, ferries and airplanes to solve the problem of moving people and goods throughout the transportation-challenged Southeast Alaska region.
A new Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan, which will guide policy decisions in future years, is now trying to solve some of those issues by conducting a user-benefit analysis.
Among the alternatives examined in the draft plan are options that would replace ferry runs with highways, but while public hearings throughout the region found strong opinions on both sides, but little agreement on how transportation officials should decide between the options.
“Ultimately, when you are comparing dissimilar alternatives, you have to come up with some approach, a defined approach, to assign a monetary value to the alternatives,” said Andy Hughes, regional planner for the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
The department is now trying to solve that problem by hiring a consulting firm to help it compare those alternatives by assigning a “user-benefit” to each, he said.
“All of the modes (of Transportation) have a common denominator, each mode moves passengers or freight a certain distance,” Hughes said. The consultant will be in charge of finding a fair method of doing that, but won’t be told what method to use.
“We point the consultants to a number of accepted practices,” he said.
Among the resources they’ll be expected to use are the latest manual from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and guidance from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
Those plans, however, have some big weaknesses, he said.
“They don’t address ferries, and they don’t address air,” he said, but they can be used as a guide.
It will be up to the consultants to figure out what the cost per mile for those modes are. That’s a fairly standard number, which can easily be compared to standardized automobile or trucking costs.
The less-certain factor is placing a value on frequency and time of travel. That included determining, for example, how much more valuable daily travel opportunity would be than weekly travel, he said.
Hughes said he knows the end result will be controversial, but that’s just part of being a transportation planner.
“The problem these days is the fares are all too high, and there’s not enough frequency of service,” Hughes said.
The results of the draft plan available by the end of summer, with another series of public hearings in the fall before the final plan is completed.
• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.
Comments (6)
Add commentPurpose of travel
That's a key question to be asked. Is it for work, shopping, medical services, delivery of goods and services, recreation...
My belief is that the primary demand for the Juneau Access road is recreation. In the current budgetary climate, where we're eliminating teachers because of lack of funding, should we be building a billion dollar road to recreation?
Roads are a lot cheaper than ferries.
Roads are a lot cheaper than ferries.
Fixed cost
There is an initial large investment for the road, but over time the cost becomes fixed and mostly predictable (maintenance and occasional repairs). Running ships is a huge expense. The boats & equipment, volatile cost of fuel, staffing, continous maintenance and replacement. Once a road bed is established, it can be converted to rail or whatever the future holds.
Agreed with lat
A Juneau Road, whether up the Lynn Canal or up the Taku, would never realistically become the shipment method of choice for freight. Who would honestly put dozens/hundreds of trucks on the road from down south to drive to Skagway when they could barge everything at much cheaper and more efficient rates?
Juneau is only one town in
Juneau is only one town in the Southeast. You cant build a road to Pelican, Gustavus, Angoon or Sitka. A true Southeast transportation plan needs to look at the whole of communities.
where's the "problem"?
The population in Juneau hasn't changed much in 20 years. For those 20 years, people and goods have been coming and going, coming and going. No one seems to have suffered too much, and clearly it's not enough of an issue to warrant mass exodus from Juneau or outlying communities; ie Hoonah, Gustavus, etc. which are also fairly stable.
Where is the "problem"? If it ain't broke.......