From The Oregonian, September 26, 2000

Boat operator paddles his vision of river ferries

Dan Yates puts the concept in place with a budget and purchase of a fast-speed boat as possible prototype

by DENNIS MCCARTHY

THE OREGONIAN

Dan Yates sees the day when high-speed passenger ferries will shuttle up and down the Willamette River daily, hauling hundreds of commuters between Portland and the Clackamas county’s lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Oregon City.

As president of American Waterways, which operates three dining cruise boats-Portland Spirit, Willamette Star and Crystal Dolphin-Yates sees himself as a big part of the picture. The 41-year-old hopes to operate a fleet of eight commuter ferries.

Although no one’s saying it’s impossible, local elected officials and regional transportation planners are hardly ready to jump on board, mainly because no one knows where the money might be found. Cost estimates run as high as $66 million. And there are logistical and environmental concerns.

Yates says he’s merely investigating the possibilities and that with growing commuter pressures, it’s a plan worth considering.

"According to the South Corridor Transportation Plan, all traffic on McLoughlin (Boulevard) is going to get slower," says Yates. "Oregonians are getting fed up. They want to get home faster."

With voters rejecting multimillion-dollar money measures to build a light rail line into Clackamas County and traffic backing up on McLaughlin Boulevard, Yates thinks the time is right to start seriously looking toward the Willamette River. He envisions his commuter ferries running from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Two months ago, Yates presented a Metro workshop on river transit with his own estimates of what it would cost to set up a Willamette River ferry system, including costs to build the ferries, docking facilities in all four cites, parking garages in Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Oregon City, and the costs of purchasing land in the four cities.

Yates said it would take a combination of federal, state and local funds to make the project go. But officials in Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Oregon City say they would not have enough money to pay their shares of the project costs.

"Interesting concept, said Lake Oswego Mayor Bill Klammer. But he said its tough enough to get voters to support bonds for badly needed school renovations.

Milwaukie Mayor Carolyn Tomei said her city will be staring at a major budget deficit next year.

Still, Tomei said she finds the concept of a passenger ferry service "terribly exciting." Building a docking facility along Milwaukie Bay and a parking garage along the eastside of McLoughlin Boulevard would fit in perfectly with the city’s plans to redevelop its riverfront and downtown areas, said Tomei.

But the problem with trying to help finance a start-up ferry service is still money, or the city’s lack thereof, she said.

In Oregon City, the problem not only is money, but location. Mayor John Williams said about the only place he can think of where a boat dock could be built for the passenger ferries would be on the Clackamas River near Clackamette Cove. But he said it’s questionable whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would ever allow dredging in the river, at the mouth of the cover. And the city also is faced with its own problems trying to stabilize the rivers rapidly eroding south bank.

’Not beating drum,’ says Yates

Yates insists he’s "not out beating the drum for this" project, that he’s ordering a new, fast speed dinner cruise boat from a Tampa, Fla., boatbuilder that he plans to operate between Portland and Astoria anyway, and that maybe it could serve as a prototype for passenger ferries.

"I’m not promoting it - I’m out getting information on my own," he said. "I’m doing this for a private venture"

Yates’ new boat, which will measure sure between 75 and 90 feet in length, is designed to glide through water at about 30 to 40 knots with- out leaving a noticeable wake. It will have seating for 149 passengers, with an enclosed dining area under an open-air deck, but would be low enough to clear the Steel Bridge without raising the span.

Yates said his company is investing About $2 million in what he’s calling a demonstration project. Along with the initial three-hour Portland-to-Astoria round-trip dinner cruise, Yates said he plans to run the boat up to Bonneville Dam and back. And he said the boat will Be available for other dinner cruises or Demonstration runs and, possibly, future commuter service.

Among the things Yates includes in his cost estimates for the ferry service: Purchasing eight of the boats, which would run about $1.6 million each; $3 million to buy the three acres of land in each of the four cities; $6 million to build 400-space parking garages in Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Oregon City; $3 million for a maintenance yard; and $1.5 million to build ferry docks in the four cities.

Yates adds another $10 million for planning and $5 million for mitigation - the process of replacing land taken for the project with land of equal size and worth elsewhere.

One Metro Alternative

But by his own estimates all this is still very preliminary. Neither Metro nor Tri-Met has made any Financial commitments or policy decisions on river transit, although Ross Roberts, Metro’s project manager for the South Corridor Study said rivet transit is one of about a half-dozen alternatives Metro is studying.

Roberts said there are a number of challenging issues Yates’ plan raises, such as building park-an-ride lots or parking garages along the Willamette River Greenway and the impact of dock facilities on fish habitat.

Roberts also wonders if there really any federal transportation dollars available for river transit as the type Yates envisions. Passenger ferries running up and down a river on a regular basis are not very common in this country, Roberts said.

But Yates insists the time has come to give commuter ferries serious consideration. "Its viable alternative."