Eliminating Prince Rupert from the schedule is one of a number of options floated from Alaska Marine Highway Reshaping Report

Elimination of the Prince Rupert stop for the AMHS is one of a number
of options being considered from a Reshaping Report on the fate of the
Marine Transportation Service in the state

The future of the Alaska Marine Highway Service is in some uncharted waters these days, budget concerns, scheduling cutbacks and labour relations all providing for a range of issues that made 2019 a challenging year, with 2020 still very much of an unknown for state residents.

This week, the Alaska Transportation office released the draft report called a Reshaping Report, which offers up some background on the revenue streams, fleet allocation, terminal status and impact on many Alaskan communities served by the Service.

The 250,000 review document was prepared by consultants Northern Economics, the document which come in at 125 pages will set some of the discussion moving forward for the State as it explores what shape the AMHS will take as part of the budget preparations for the years ahead.

The document provides for 11 options ranging from selling off or giving vessels and terminals to private entities to operate, as well as to transfer AMHS assets to a public corporation working with a fixed fund.

There are also options that include further divestment of vessels, privatizing on board passenger services and reducing or eliminating service to a number of smaller Alaskan communities.

The AMHS recently suspended its service to Prince Rupert from Ketchikan, at the time the issue was the concern over  security at the Prince Rupert Terminal.

That element didn't make for any mentions in the Reshaping document, and it will no doubt make for an additional item of concern for the Prince Rupert service, combined with the larger focus on the financial fate of the Alaskan service.

When it comes to any focus on Prince Rupert, the report only makes occasional mention of the service's southern terminus, which is Mainline Service component of the document.

One of the focus points of the Prince Rupert stop comes in what is referenced as Option 3B-2, which suggests the elimination of all trips to Prince Rupert and reduced service to Bellingham, Washington.

Moves which the report notes would reduce the subsidy level to the target level, something the Alaska Government has oft stated is its goal.

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That would appear to be the worst case scenario for Prince Rupert, while other options offer up a reduced level of service, and in once instance a call for reduced fares between the AMHS Fairview Terminal and Ketchikan. 

Most of the recommendations would seem to suggest that if the AMHS service does return to the North Coast it will be on a schedule that is quite reduced from years past.

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The Reshaping Document authors conducted a range of interviews with community leaders in many of the ports served by the AMHS, though it does not appear that Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain was included in the fact finding plans, at least as indicated by the list of contributors posted to the document.

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You can review the document in full here.

The State of Alaska also provided some additional background on the Draft Report

AMHS Volume and Revenue by Route

Profiles of Communities Served by AMHS

AMHS Regression Models

Once the Final report is delivered to Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy the debate over the fate of the Alaska Marine Highway and the Prince Rupert connection to Alaska may become a little bit clearer for the year ahead.

For more notes on the recent troubles for the AMHS see our archive pages here.