Portland has a legacy of multi-modal transportation innovations; Frog Ferry will launch a two-year passenger ferry pilot service on the Willamette River between Cathedral Park and RiverPlace, a beautiful and diverse stretch of the river. For the pilot project, FF will design-build a new, 70-passenger vessel; an RFP for the vessel will be issued once funding is secured.
The ferry for the pilot project, and future vessels, will be low-wake, high efficient catamarans.
The data from the Pilot Project will inform the design of the fully battery-electric vessels that FF intends to build for its regional system across nine ferry stops. New battery technology is rapidly advancing to be more compact, lighter and safer with the recycling of batteries and their component materials also advancing. The Pilot will also inform – the design and installation of the sophisticated charging system to launch the seven-vessel regional electrified fleet. FF plans for the regional system to include four 100-passenger vessels for the northerly Vancouver/lower Willamette reaches and three 70-passenger vessels for the mid-Willamette reaches to the south of the central city. As the Cathedral Park pilot project’s start approaches, it is exciting to consider that if the planned FF fleet were operational now, it would have the most all-electric ferries of any fleet currently operating worldwide!
To learn more about the proposed future operation go to: Operational Feasibility Study