| At a time when Portland needs bold, fast solutions to rebuild downtown vibrancy, Frog Ferry advances eight major storylines:
1. Economic Development
Ferries stimulate economic vitality — connecting people to jobs, increasing foot traffic, and supporting local businesses and attractions.
2. Climate & Environment
Portland is falling behind on its 2035 Climate Goals, with greenhouse gas emissions rising year over year. Transportation accounts for roughly 40% of CO₂ emissions. The region ranks among the top 10–25 metro areas nationally for congestion.
Electrified water transit helps reduce emissions while easing pressure on roadways.
3. Portland Love
Frog Ferry is the antidote to “we can’t do anything new.”
Powered by volunteers, informed by ferry experts, and remarkably cost-effective, we have persevered — even when faced with skepticism. We remain optimistic. We love Portland.
Let’s better utilize the infrastructure we already have. Let’s entice more people to walk, bike, reach the waterfront, and explore the region by water.
There is urgency. Portland has fallen to the bottom of several key community health indicators. We need visible, hopeful progress.
4. Health & River Stewardship
River stewardship is restoration. It is healing.
The more people experience the river, the more they care for it. Time near water reduces stress and anxiety and improves overall well-being. Ferries reconnect residents to one of our region’s greatest natural assets.
5. Cost Efficiency
Ferries are cost-effective in capital, operations, and maintenance.
They function like floating electric buses — yet unlike e-buses (which currently have a single domestic manufacturer and long backlogs), there are multiple electric ferry builders.
Existing docks function much like bus stops; large terminals are rarely necessary. Passengers arrive shortly before departure.
6. Emergency Preparedness
Water-based transit is a best practice in resilient river cities.
During ice storms, heat domes, earthquakes, or major roadway shutdowns, ferries provide an additional transportation tool in Portland’s emergency response toolbox.
7. Education
With docks at places like OMSI, ferries become floating classrooms — ideal for field trips, interpretive tours, and learning about river ecosystems.
They also connect to the deeper history of this region — 300 to 30,000 years ago — when canoes traversed these waters as primary transportation.
8. Innovation: Fixing Systems That No Longer Work
We must be brave enough to evolve how we move through our region.
Our goal is to make it easy for people to make choices that benefit the whole community — reducing greenhouse gases, easing congestion, and increasing connections to TriMet and other transit options. |
