TEA TIME

In the U.S. another source of funding that has helped fuel ferry expansion is the the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) which has earmarked $400 million to $500 million for ferry and terminal construction.

A direct outgrowth of TEA-21 was the San Francisco Bay Water Transportation Authority which was established two years ago to oversee ferry development in the Bay area and is now well into a 10-year plan with a projected result of 70 ferries operating out of 28 terminals.

Of $31.3 million in TEA-21 funds issued last year, $20 million was shared between Alaska, New Jersey and Washington states for marine highway systems, with the balance of $11.3 million being awarded to 18 other states for waterborne transportation purposes.

Fleets of fast ferries are hull down just over the horizon preparing to sweep in with the new millennium. Why? For most urban commuters the answer is a car length away. Traffic congestion in cities and on inter-city corridors is at an all-time high with dramatic increases expected in the near future. A nationwide aging vehicular infrastructure is demanding expensive repair and replacements necessitating hard-to-swallow tax increases and pay-later bond proposals. Light rail, a commuter alternative to the passenger car, costs a near-prohibitive $70 million/mile, about twice the cost of an equally daunting new freeway mile.

Often, especially in east and west coast urban centers, commuters stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic need only look out their windows to see broad ribbons of empty water tauntingly stretching in their direction of travel.

In the United States 29 states border navigational waterways in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes.

While late turning to this transportation alternative, the United States is wasting no time. According to U.S. Government estimates, the United States now leads the world in fast ferry growth. As a matter of fact, high-speed ferries are emerging as a choice of transportation the world over. In areas where ferries are traditionally an integral part of the transportation infrastructure, new and larger high-speed ferries are selectively replacing existing conventional ferry services.

The emerging picture of the future ferry concept appears to be a combination of high-speed and traditional ferries, with the choice between the two being driven by the market demand and economics of operation.

Band, Lavis & Associates, Inc., (a CDI Marine Group Company) has conducted numerous design and hydrodynamic analyses of high-speed ships and advanced marine vehicles, with a particular emphasis on marine waterjet propulsion systems. In a recent study, it finds that catamaran ferries will continue to dominate the fast ferry market because of their relative simplicity and generally lower cost for most applications. Other high-speed ferries that are suitable for particular applications currently in service around the world are monohulls, hydrofoils, air cushion vehicles (hovercraft) and surface effect ships.

ON THE SURFACE
According to Band, Lavis, however, it is possible that surface effect ships (SES) will ultimately have a more significant effect on the ferry industry than they do now. Surface Effect Ships have been in passenger service primarily in Europe and Asia for over 38 years.

Twenty years ago, the SES appeared to be well positioned to dominate the fast ferry market. The catamaran industry, though, has shown that catamarans can achieve the relatively modest transit speeds of 30 to 40 knots with far better financial success. Nevertheless, SES have continued to be the subject of much study over the past two decades. One of the primary conclusions that has consistently come out of each of these studies, is the fact that transit speeds must typically be approaching 50 knots or greater before the economics of SES become attractive over competing hull forms such as catamarans. Below speeds of approximately 50 knots, the cost and complexity associated with the SES’s end seals, lift fans and lift fan prime movers, manifest themselves as both an acquisition and operating costs penalty. This is in large part the reason why SES cannot economically compete with other hull forms such as slender catamarans at lower speeds.

Past the 50 knot barrier, the end seals, lift fans and lift fan prime movers become significant systems that enable the SES to achieve high speeds more efficiently than can competing hull forms.

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