Privatizing Louisiana's ferries

[mcdonaat]

Thought this should be spun off into its' own topic, so here it goes! Louisiana is talking about privatizing the old ferries across the Mississippi at New Orleans. Considering the old White Castle and Melville ferries have been closed, with the WC ferry being reopened in August before closing at the end of the year, would it be best to offer old ferry routes to private companies? The top three I can think of are the old LA 490 crossing at Colfax (provided a link across the Red River to Natchitoches Parish, cutting out $10 in fuel and 45 minutes from a trip), Melville's LA 10 crossing (could be operated on a need basis, since it would provide a use for farmers and local traffic), and the White Castle ferry, where the detour is about 50 miles or so.

These ferries were either closed, or are being closed, due to a loss of money. Private companies could use a better system, like selling advertisements and charging a higher fee to cross. I would support the fee hikes, since they can be raised and the public would still save money.

[pctech]

The state will still likely have to subsidize the ferry operations.  Operating them is an expensive , LADODT claims that the $1 crossing fare at the White Castle only covers 2% of the operating cost of the ferry. If they are privatized, the operators should have to state upfront what the projected fares will be. (during the bidding process)

Maybe someone on the board can tell us about the economics of ferry operations elsewhere?

Mark

[mcdonaat]

I would see subsidizing the ferries, but it would save money in the long run. Switching to hybrid biodiesel-electric ferries, bumping up fares, and advertising on the ferry could help in costs.