City Scrutinizes Ferry Service, Names Goals

The City of Mackinac Island is concerned that the three ferry companies serving the Island may be running inefficiently and is debating whether just one or two lines could better serve the needs of its residents. A city committee is also mulling whether it should form a Transportation Authority to bring the boat lines under tighter government control.

Triggered by the rumored sale of Arnold Transit Company and the unknown operating plans of a potential new owner, the city fears boat service could end in October after the summer tourist season, instead of January, as happens now. With a ferry franchise agreement with Arnold Transit, Star Line, and Shepler's set to expire March 31, the city wants assurances the Island will continue to have late season boat service. Transportation Committee members met Tuesday, January 19, and said they plan to recommend that the city council require that all three boat companies operate into next January, weather permitting.

Off-season service has been provided only by Arnold Transit, which has a steel-hulled boat to plow through ice floes in early winter and early spring. The company often operates the off-season service at a financial loss, even when reducing daily trips to three.

At Tuesday's meeting, committee members said all three boat lines should be required to operate until ice prevents travel, usually in January. They also want a year to study ferry boat operations. Uncertainty over late-season service, limited winter schedules, and the cost of tickets are concerns among residents, committee members say.

"We need to protect the 400 or 350 residents we have living here at this point," said Alderman Jason St. Onge. "It's not 1940s anymore. We can't live like this, wondering day-today if we're going to have service. We have to get this in the works and on paper."

Mr. St. Onge is not a member of the committee, but attended the meeting. The committee is chaired by Alderman Dan Wightman and members are Aldermen Armin Porter and Frank Bloswick. Mr. Bloswick was not present January 19.

Mayor Margaret Doud called for Tuesday's meeting to move forward with a new franchise. Attorney Mike Cavanaugh attended the meeting by telephone from the Lansing firm Fraser, Trebilcock, Davis, and Dunlap.

A plan floated in December was to continue the current fiveyear franchise for one more year, but Mr. St. Onge said that without a requirement for winter service, a new Arnold owner could stop service at any time. He proposed a one-year franchise with a winter service requirement.

"The writing on the wall is that the Arnold Line is being sold," Mr. St. Onge said, "and if the new owner decides that he is not going to run at a loss in November, December, and January, we might end up with no boat come November 1."

To comply with a proposed off-season service requirement, committee members say Star Line and Shepler's could either purchase a vessel that would operate in ice or hire Arnold Transit to operate in their place, which would subsidize Arnold for the off-season service. This, the committee agreed, would be better than asking the city to subsidize winter service.

"One of the things we discussed [at a previous meeting] was subsidizing Arnold Line out of the franchise fee," Mr. Porter said, "but, frankly, having the other two boat lines do it, I think, is probably a better idea since this is really the responsibility of all three boat lines to provide that wintertime service."

Mayor Doud said the committee will ask for a copy the 2010 boat schedules and fares. It also will put together a list of regulations the city wants included in the franchise, including the approximate number of trips between the Island and St. Ignace that the boats should make in the off-season, the departure times the city thinks the boats should leave each port, when boats should begin operating in the spring, the hours of the day a schedule should be maintained, and the number of boats that should make the trip.

Competition among the three boat lines for tourists in the summer has resulted in inefficient and excessive boat scheduling, leading to high ticket prices, the committee feels.

Other options, according to Mr. Cavanaugh, the attorney, would be that the city operate its own boat, or grant one exclusive franchise, if that would give the city better service and at a lower cost to passengers.