By Professor John Robertson
Washington State Ferries in the USA have just announced new prices for the popular 15 miles, 1 hour crossing of the sheltered Puget Sound, between Bremerton and Seattle – $54.35 or £43.30. https://mynorthwest.com/3959021/travel-alert-washington-ferry-prices-go-up-amid-waves-riders/
The popular 14.3 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes crossing of the, at times very stormy, Firth of Clyde, from Brodick, Arran to Ardrossan, is £30.20.
How is this possible?
In 2022/2023, the SNP Government ferry subsidy to keep prices down to affordable levels for hopefully grateful islanders, native or settler, was £173 MILLION! https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24276739.calmac-gets-63-real-terms-public-subsidy-rise-despite-drop/#:~:text=Then%20the%20grant%20to%20CalMac,space%20of%20just%20one%20year.
There are many mainland villages in Scotland with far longer journey times from larger towns or city centres without comparable help. The ferry users group chairs should write to the Herald and BBC Scotland, tell them to zip it for fear of attracting public scrutiny of their subsidies, then zip it themselves. I know it’s hard if you’ve just retired from being Chief Executive of Arsechester Dairies, to a Scottish island, to stop talking, but do try.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
>The popular 14.3 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes crossing of the, at times very stormy, Firth of Clyde, from Brodick to Ardrossan, is £30.20.<‘
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Thanks
I need a proof reader
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Ah but…. Canadian ferries are privatised and competition ‘drives down prices’ and so they have to charge more…..to maximise shareholder return. ☹️😳😩
Alasdair Macdonald
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Subsidies ? Bah ! Time this drain on Public Finances was halted and efficient privatised ferries were introduced . Then you would see how quickly depopulation of the Islands could be achieved – leaving them for the billionaires as their playground , free of the hoi polloi !
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Ferry services ‘unbundled’ (i.e. one operator for one or a small group of islands) and privatised; fares set at a rate (i) to pay back commercial loans required to procure a vessel/s and maintain harbour facilities, (ii) to ensure sufficient profit in order to pay dividends to shareholders, and (iii) meet the costs of having contingencies in place (e.g. to procure a spare vessel or pay for a stand-by deal with another ferry operator) to cope with periods when own vessel is in dock for repair or for scheduled maintenance. Is this what Mull residents want? Or do they want to cherry pick based just on their own self interests rather than the interests of the Western Isles as a whole?
Farewell to benefits of economies of scale! Farewell to public subsidies from taxpayers on mainland Scotland – subsidies for the most part happily given to support valued island communities.
Recent statements from individuals/groups on for example Islay – the place whose economy benefits from a host of multi-national company operations – could risk the existing consensus around public funding for such places.
It’s legitimate to want public services to be delivered economically, effectively and efficiently. The sustained campaign directed against CalMac and the Scottish Government has gone way beyond this. As the main blog post states: ‘The ferry users group chairs should write to the Herald and BBC Scotland, tell them to zip it for fear of attracting public scrutiny of their subsidies’. They should beware of legitimate concerns high-jacked by those on the islands and those in the news media with other political objectives.
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