Alaska DOT&PF Receives $177.4 Million Grant to Modernize Ferry Services
Federal grants include $106.4 million to replace MV Tustumena, $66 million for system-wide improvements, and $5 million for onboard Wifi.
Federal grants include $106.4 million to replace MV Tustumena, $66 million for system-wide improvements, and $5 million for onboard Wifi.
More than $700 million in federal funding has been directed toward the Alaska Marine Highway System this year. This round of funding will help restore rural ferry service and replace the M/V Tustumena.
A month into its debut season, the newest ferry in the Alaska Marine Highway System was formally christened by First Lady Rose Dunleavy as MV Hubbard.
In 2023 the Alaska Marine Highway System is undergoing changes to to serve coastal communities more efficiently, including replacing and modernizing vessels and potential updates to ferry dock infrastructure.
Craig Tornga has been appointed the state ferry system’s new Marine Director, a position formerly known as general manager and held for twenty years by the recently retired Captain John Falvey.
A $28.2 million federal grant lets three Prince William Sound communities modify docks to enable newer state ferries to serve them.
An infrastructure plan for the Alaska Marine Highway System includes significant capital investments, such as a new ocean-class vessel to replace the 57-year old ferry Tustumena.
Despite mountains of data, piles of studies, hundreds of voices, passionate communities, involved business leaders, and engaged politicians, somehow the AMHS is apparently an unresolved—or unresolvable—problem.