Ketchikan Ferry Terminal ClosureBy Bob Trotter
December 15, 2020
Alaskans don’t treat Alaskans this way. Who is responsible for these decisions? What kind of sense does this make? Before you say Covid, hear me out. They close the 72 seat Ketchikan ferry terminal to the public and make a passenger for the ferry wait 6 hours outside in the 37 degree damp Ketchikan weather. That’s like telling airline passengers who have a 6 hour layover at Ted Stevens airport to wait outside until their connecting flight is ready. The airlines aren’t doing that, the AMHS is! This is exactly what happened to me on December 9th in Ketchikan. I had just arrived on an 8 am flight after working a hitch on the “slope” and was on my way home to Klawock. I picked up my prepaid walk on ferry ticket at the terminal door, (IFA leases space from AMHS) and was told, you can’t wait inside while feeling that rush of warm air coming from inside and seeing past the ticket agent those 72 empty seats in the large passenger terminal waiting area. Thank God I was able to stay inside the State run airline passenger terminals in Prudhoe Bay and Anchorage on my way down to Ketchikan. They didn’t make anyone wait outside between flights. Seemed pretty organized with everyone social distancing and wearing masks. Not so for our ferry system. John Falvey, General Manager for the Alaska Marine Highway System told me that all state buildings are closed to the public due to Covid. He is just doing what the State requires. That was his response to me back in September when I brought this up with him. I travel often working the Slope and villages and was concerned that as late fall and winter come on, it was going to be extremely difficult with no warm shelter while waiting for the ferry. If you’re traveling with bulky luggage you can’t just drag it around inside some warm business to loiter while waiting for the ferry. I also spoke with Sam Dapcevich, Public Information Officer for the Southcoast Region of the Office of the Commissioner for the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. This guy should know something; he’s the Public Information Officer. He said this is the first I have heard that the passenger terminals are closed to the public. Said he would check it out and get back with me. That was back in September. Either someone needs to tell Ted Stevens International (a State owned facility), they missed the memo and need to close their passenger terminals, and passengers are to wait outside for their connecting flight or someone in charge of AMHS facilities needs to get with the airports and get a clue on how to run a public terminal. And don’t give the excuse that the ferry terminals are too small, the Ketchikan facility has 72 seats, figure it out. I am old enough to have 8 grandchildren, and for our bureaucrats to force a grandpa to sit outside a large heated passenger terminal in Alaska in December, shivering for 6 hours is a disgrace. If you want to call yourself a manager, then manage and don’t forget that you serve the public. Without us, there would be no need for any of the infrastructure, those who work in it and those who manage. If you as a traveler, whether shopping for the day in Ketchikan or commuting to and from work as myself or for whatever reason have been effected by the passenger terminal closure, or you just think it’s wrong, please contact John Falvey, GM of AMHS or Sam Dapcevich, Public Information Officer by email or phone which can be found on the Alaska State website DOT&PF, Office of the Commissioner. If they don’t hear, nothing will change. Thank you. Sincerely, Bob Trotter
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Received December 11, 2020 - Published December 15, 2020 Related Viewpoint:
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