Ferries Conference is produced by Colibri Northwest.  Happening October 16, 2025.

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Agenda

October 16, 2025, Seattle Renaissance Hotel.

As of January 28, 2025.

2025 Ferries Conference Agenda

900-1030 Legislative Overview and Public Sector Funding:

  • State and Federal Legislative Updates
  • Federal and State Financing Programs
  • Private Sector Financing Tools


1030-1100 Coffee Break and Networking

1100-Noon   Ferries as Economic Development Drivers

  • Economics
  • Demand Study: quality of life enhancement
  • Streamlining the permit process


Noon-130pm Hosted Lunch

130pm-3pm Evolving Usage of Ferry to Meet Evolving Transportation Patterns

  • Evolution Case Study (King County, WA)
  • Modeling the Future (Pinellas County, FL)
  • Planning and managing costs


3pm-330pm Coffee Break and Networking

330pm-5pm Ferries in the Transit Mix: Intermodality, Technology and Best Practices

  • Electric, Alternative and Traditional Propulsion
  • Multimodal Connections
  • Terminal Amenities: Economic development, enhanced public safety, and community asset


5-630pm Hosted Reception

8:00 - 9:00am

Continental Breakfast & Registration

9:00 - 10:30am

Welcoming Remarks: Peter Philips, Colibri Northwest

Legislative Overview and Public Sector Funding

  • State and federal legislative updates
  • Federal and state financing programs
  • Private sector financing tools
Moderator:

Stacey Crawshaw-Lewis, Pacifica Law Group

Panelists:

CDR Xochitl Castañeda, Maritime Administration, USDOT

Georgia Gann Dohrmann, Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Amy Volz, Federal Transit Administration, USDOT

Stephanie Bowman, Washington State Dept. of Commerce

Ray Bucheger, FBB Federal Relations

Justin LeBlanc, Justin LeBlanc Government Relations, LLC

Amanda Wyma-Bradley, US Senator Patty Murray

10:30 - 11:00am

Coffee Break & Networking

11:00am - Noon

Issues Facing the Private Operator

  • Grants and funding for the public and private operator
  • The on-call model: retainer as an operating subsidy

Ray Bucheger, FBB Federal Relations

Joe Burgard, Red and White Fleet

Michael Eaglen, EV Maritime

Mark Keneford, Wärtsilä Canada Inc.

Noon - 1:30pm

Hosted Lunch

1:30 - 3:00pm

Planning & Partnerships

  • The operator/client relationship
  • Demand studies
  • Engaging the community
Moderator:

Peter Philips, Colibri Northwest

Panelists:

Graham Balch, ZeroMar

Liz Diedrich, Diedrich RPM

Steve Sego, Waterman Mitigation Partners

Panelists:

Brent Baker, WSP

Mark Bandy, Kimley-Horn

David Sowers, PE., Washington State Ferries

Marsha Tolon PLA, ENV-SP, Washington State Ferries

3:00pm - 3:30pm

Coffee Break & Networking

3:30pm - 5:00pm

Case Studies: Successful Public and Private Operations

  • Route management
  • The regulatory interface: state, county and local collaboration
  • The economics of electrification
Moderator:

Seamus Murphy, WETA

Panelists:

John Hildreth, PhD, PE, West Carolina University

David Tyler, Artemis Technologies

Washington State Representative Greg Nance, 23rd Legislative District

Neil Bowles, Artemis Technologies

Tim Hanners, San Francisco Bay Ferry/WETA

David Mik, Power Engineering

Dr. Dilip Trivedi, PhD, PE, Moffatt & Nichol

5:00pm - 6:30pm

Hosted Reception

The above schedule, topics, and speakers are subject to change.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

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Past Ferries Conference Photos

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