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I would much prefer the ferry be a private service and not publicly funded.
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I see - that must be why Hawaii is such a left leaning democrat state - Hmmmm, last I checked, the democrats aren't exactly known for lean and small government.
So since the majority of us vote democrat that means we are all for a bloated government?
Seriously?
Did you think that maybe for a second, many of us are socially liberal AND fiscally conservative?
It would be a crime to push anything remotely similar to the SuperFerry on taxpayer's backs.
Unless fuel prices drop by 90%, this is entirely impossible.
Well they just practically did.
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LOL. Diesel is still running close to $4/gallon. Not quite a 90% drop. $28,000 on fuel for one trip.
The funniest part is the $39/passenger and $57/car fares viper was touting wouldn't even cover non-fuel related operating cost.
Try amortizing the expense of a single $100 MILLION dollar vessel over its operational life plus interest, plus maintenance (think $10M-$12M annual payments on just the loan). Plus land lease. Plus staff. Plus insurance. Plus vomit cleaning. Forget about fuel, $39/passenger and $57/car wouldn't come close to covering these costs alone.
I'd bet it would cost $200/car and $100/passenger for the SF to breakeven at an exceptionally high 50% load factor. And at today's low fuel prices.
I honestly can't think of a better fail of a business model.
Wow two threads on this topic? Someone wants this luxury badly but doesn't want to pay for it. So typical Hawaii we love our shiny toys but don't want to pay for them.
Yes, and Maui County is voting on using subsidies to keep it going.
I assumed it was always subsidized, at least in part, because it allowed Molokai residents to travel to Maui to work thereby becoming more self sufficient. I think employers paid half and employees half, but there must have been some tax benefit for the employers.
LOL. Diesel is still running close to $4/gallon. Not quite a 90% drop. $28,000 on fuel for one trip.
I'm sure companies can buy it in bulk cheaper, as well as buy futures to cover rising fuel costs--just the way airlines do. But the point is still that all that oil has to be imported and the price is volatile and generally trending up. It may be low today (because the Saudis are trying to put the N.American shale oil producers out of business), but you know it will go back up later (when they succeed and want to make some more money again).
But whtviper1, you haven't told us the fuel consumption of an island-hopping flight. You scoffed at the proposed numbers, but since you work(ed?) for HA, you're in the best position to give us some accurate data. Doesn't have to be exact company secrets, but a ballpark figure, if you think pj737's numbers are too low. I admit 300 gallons for a 30 minute flight seems low, then again they are the newest and most energy efficient jets on purpose. So, what are the real world numbers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pj737
The funniest part is the $39/passenger and $57/car fares viper was touting wouldn't even cover non-fuel related operating cost.
Try amortizing the expense of a single $100 MILLION dollar vessel over its operational life plus interest, plus maintenance (think $10M-$12M annual payments on just the loan). Plus land lease. Plus staff. Plus insurance. Plus vomit cleaning. Forget about fuel, $39/passenger and $57/car wouldn't come close to covering these costs alone.
I'd bet it would cost $200/car and $100/passenger for the SF to breakeven at an exceptionally high 50% load factor. And at today's low fuel prices.
I honestly can't think of a better fail of a business model.
This is the real point here. The barge companies have old, slow boats that are paid for, and it still costs $200+ to ship a car. A ferry has more staff and more operating costs. You can't run a daily service with such high overhead, not have it filled to capacity, and then charge below costs. That's what happened to the airlines, and the result is they all went through bankruptcy.
I've said it before, people in Hawaii should be prepared to pay the true cost of inter-island travel. Having airlines offer unsustainable fares and go out of business is just as bad as a single monopoly airline gouging the market. There is a price somewhat above cost at which there are reasonable fares and healthy competition. I think we're actually at that equilibrium with HA right now, and I don't see how a ferry, with all its inconveniences and overhead can compete with air travel. And when you consider all the environmental problems and social issues with a ferry, it makes even less sense for the state to encourage, let alone subsidize the ferry.
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