Portland Passenger Ferry | Status Uncertain

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

Trimet holds a monopoly on Portland's transit and obviously saw Frog Ferry as a competitor. It was an uphill battle from the beginning and I agree, it could have been something iconic for our city.

As a financial and contracts analyst by trade, there are some things that would have concerned me if I were to come across their submitted invoices mentioned both in this article as well as a few other places on local boards. Also a big wtf to me is how they have raised a self-reported over $7m as of halfway through last year, but this denial of $225K is a nail in the coffin for the effort? I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but I'll be curious to hear more details.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

As a financial and contracts analyst by trade, there are some things that would have concerned me if I were to come across their submitted invoices mentioned both in this article as well as a few other places on local boards. Also a big wtf to me is how they have raised a self-reported over $7m as of halfway through last year, but this denial of $225K is a nail in the coffin for the effort? I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but I'll be curious to hear more details.

I am curious what went wrong, and I am also a little annoyed that Trimet isn't running this effort to put in a ferry system up and down the Willamette with a Vancouver connection.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

As a financial and contracts analyst by trade, there are some things that would have concerned me if I were to come across their submitted invoices mentioned both in this article as well as a few other places on local boards. Also a big wtf to me is how they have raised a self-reported over $7m as of halfway through last year, but this denial of $225K is a nail in the coffin for the effort? I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but I'll be curious to hear more details.

I've heard the rumblings about unaccounted spending, etc. as well. Sad if it's true. As urbanlife mentioned, it would be nice if TriMet would try to work with them, maybe buy them out and make this thing a reality. Ferries operate very successfully in Cities all over the the world. If done correctly, there is no reason one in Portland wouldn't be a success.

[babs]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

I've heard the rumblings about unaccounted spending, etc. as well. Sad if it's true. As urbanlife mentioned, it would be nice if TriMet would try to work with them, maybe buy them out and make this thing a reality. Ferries operate very successfully in Cities all over the the world. If done correctly, there is no reason one in Portland wouldn't be a success.

What's there to buy out? You can study this all you want. Probably the better use of the money is to buy two ferries similar to the pedestrian only ferries they recently bought in Seattle. Place them into service and see what happens. If it bombs, you can sell the ferrys. Nicer docks can be built later.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by babs

What's there to buy out? You can study this all you want. Probably the better use of the money is to buy two ferries similar to the pedestrian only ferries they recently bought in Seattle. Place them into service and see what happens. If it bombs, you can sell the ferrys. Nicer docks can be built later.

When over $7m has already been raised and spent on this, there is not only asset acquisition, but you are also buying their research and access rights they have acquired. This is how business purchases work.

[eric cantona]

https://bikeportland.org/2022/04/20/...ference-352531

[uncommon.name]

"Frog Ferry says it will push on despite financial woes, dispute with TriMet

Plans for a commuter ferry service in Portland aren’t dead yet, the founder of Friends of Frog Ferry said on Wednesday as she made a public plea to the Portland City Council to put money toward the project.

Susan Bladholm, who leads the nonprofit behind the ferry effort, said she was still committed to the project despite financial straits and a dispute with TriMet over funding, and she urged Portland’s city commissioners to meet with her to discuss plans to move forward.

She also asked Portland residents to donate to the nonprofit, which she said is is out of cash."

Read more at Oregonlive...

[urbanlife]

This isn't a knock on Hardesty but I do wonder if she is even qualified to be running PBOT. As the city gets bigger, I am warming to the idea of having qualified managers running these departments and have them report to the City Council and Mayor. It would be nice to have some consistency with who runs each department in the city and that they have the qualifications to do so without having to also be an elected City Council member.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

This isn't a knock on Hardesty but I do wonder if she is even qualified to be running PBOT. As the city gets bigger, I am warming to the idea of having qualified managers running these departments and have them report to the City Council and Mayor. It would be nice to have some consistency with who runs each department in the city and that they have the qualifications to do so without having to also be an elected City Council member.

Not to stray too far off topic, but I'm pretty sure we're voting this November whether to end our ridiculous commission style of government that no other large city has anymore. And then we can hopefully stop throwing commissioners into random departments they have no experience in👍😆

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Not to stray too far off topic, but I'm pretty sure we're voting this November whether to end our ridiculous commission style of government that no other large city has anymore. And then we can hopefully stop throwing commissioners into random departments they have no experience in👍😆

I will just be a spectator in this election since I don't live in Portland, but I do hope this passes. The current form of government was great back in the Vera Katz days, but these days we are not getting the same kind of people that are all qualified to be mayors and the heads of departments running for city council.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I will just be a spectator in this election since I don't live in Portland, but I do hope this passes. The current form of government was great back in the Vera Katz days, but these days we are not getting the same kind of people that are all qualified to be mayors and the heads of departments running for city council.

I'm definitely no expert on the subject but I think it just doesn't work for a big city, which Portland is now, at least compared to the Katz years. Seattle dropped that form of government like 15 years ago.

[maccoinnich]

Not that this discussion has gotten heated, but can we keep it on the topic of the frog ferry please?

[uncommon.name]

Still a tiny bit of life left in this project.

Frog Ferry provides more information on potential Willamette River service

By Will Maetzold
Published: Jun. 20, 2023 at 6:31 PM PDT

The idea of using rivers around the Portland metro area for public transportation is gaining steam. Susan Bladholm, prospective operator Frog Ferry’s president, said it would provide a way to cut down on traffic.

“We need to provide more and better connections for people to the downtown core,” Bladholm said. “We’ve got to activate our downtown and our waterfront and get more foot traffic to downtown Portland.”

To update its progress, Frog Ferry hosted its first-ever Portland Ferry Conference on Tuesday. Leaders brought in experts to discuss what it would take to make public transportation on the water possible...

Read more on KPTV...