FTA’s Donald Burns to keynote FERRIES 2023 conference
Written by Heather Ervin
Donald Burns will keynote FERRIES 2023 in November.
The ferry market continues to rebound from the pandemic and is making great strides to improving ridership and going green thanks to innovation and also available funding opportunities. Opening the FERRIES 2023 conference on November 14 in Jersey City, N.J.—just across from Manhattan—is keynote speaker Donald Burns. Burns is the acting Deputy Regional Administrator/Director of Planning and Program Development for the Federal Transit Administration’s Region 2 Office in New York City.
He manages a team of nine planners and transportation program assistants and his team is responsible for the metropolitan planning process, pre-grant development, and environmental review for FTA projects and grants in New York and New Jersey.
He has worked on some the of region’s largest projects, including the Hudson Tunnel, Second Avenue Subway Phase 2, Long Island Rail Road East Side Access, Fulton Street Transit Center EIS, South Ferry Terminal Station Environmental Assessment (EA), Pier 39, Whitehall Ferry Terminal, and St. George Ferry Terminal.
Burns earned a bachelor’s degree in public affairs from SUNY-Albany in 1988. In 1993, he earned a master’s degree in urban planning from CUNY-Hunter College.
He is a past president of the American Planning Association’s (APA) New York Metro Chapter and is a Board Member of the APA Foundation. Burns was on the Board of the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition and served as secretary of the Montessori Day School of Brooklyn. He has been certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1998.
FERRIES 2023: The Conference
Set to take place at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, November 14-15 in Jersey City, N.J., the 36th annual Marine Log FERRIES conference will have as its theme “Designing today’s ferries for future operations.”
The venue, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking ferry traffic on the Hudson River, is a quick ferry ride from New York City.
Delivering two days of in-person discussions, dynamic Q&A sessions, and multiple networking opportunities, FERRIES 2023 will be an opportunity for the North American ferry industry to come together to share experiences, network, look for new suppliers and reconnect with existing suppliers.
The art of designing or upgrading ferries takes a lot into consideration outside of the vessel’s blueprints. Making a greener ferry is a design choice and so is enhancing the passenger experience.
FERRIES 2023 will focus on how today’s ferries—those under construction, coming online soon, or already in operation—can be prepared for the changing scope of future operations.
As ever, a focus of the program will be on lessons learned from hard-earned, real-life experience. In addition, the program will explore new ways to meet economic and environmental targets through advances in technology, innovative approaches to operating a vessel, and the latest trends in ferry design.
In addition to thought leaders presenting on topics relevant to the ferry industry, three panels have been incorporated in this year’s program focused on ferry operator challenges and successes, battery options for ferries, and an interesting overview and look at the new Governors Island ferry project.
Other topics will explore leveraging shoreside terminals and infrastructure to increase profits; low-carbon alternatives, such as electric, hydrogen and hybrid options; what’s trending in ferry designs being delivered today; and more.
The Tour
Following the end of conference sessions, on November 15, an industry tour will be provided to a limited number of attendees. This year’s tour will have attendees board a NYC Ferry vessel and tour the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where it will learn more about NYC Ferry’s Homeport Pier C, its deisgn and construction.
Guests will also learn the history of the area and discover plans for Homepoort II in Red Hook. Hornblower will round out the conversation with an inside look at NYC Ferry’s marine operations and more.
The complete agenda can be found here.
For inquiries regarding sponsorships or ways you can connect with FERRIES 2023 attendees, contact David Harkey at dharkey@sbpub.com.
The Sponsors—So Far
The following organizations are signed up to sponsor FERRIES 2023, although more will be announced soon:
Anchor (Platinum)
VPS (Platinum)
Bayonne Dry Dock (Cocktail Reception)
Siemens Energy (Pre-Conference Cocktail Party)
W&O (Luncheon)
PPG (Registration)
Coastal Marine Equipment (Laynards)
ABB (Gold)
Glosten (Gold)
All American Marine (Silver)
BMT (Silver)
Christie & Grey (Silver)
EMS Marcon (Silver)
GL Power (Silver)
Neste US (Silver)
Hamilton Jet (Silver)
Karl Senner (Silver)
Kongsberg (Silver)
Zinus Power (Silver)
MTU – A Rolls-Royce Solution (Silver)
NCP Coatings (Silver)
RIX (Silver)
Schottel / elkon (Silver)
J&A Enterprises / Soundown (Silver)
United Safety & Survivability Corporation / Fireboy-Xintex (Silver)
Vulkan (Silver)
Marine Jet Power (Silver)
BAE Systems (Bronze)
CANAL (Bronze)
Conrad Shipyard (Bronze)
Crowley (Bronze)
Cummins (Bronze)
Elliott Bay Design Group (Bronze)
EV Maritime (Bronze)
Wärtsilä (Bronze)
LeBlanc & Associates LLC (Bronze)
MOPS (Bronze)
PROP (Bronze)
Rigidized Metals (Bronze)
SSI (Bronze)
The Shearer Group (Bronze)
Thrive Payments (Bronze)
World Wide Metric (Bronze)
360 Coverage Pros (Bronze)
ZF Group (Bronze)
Allied Marine Crane (Bronze)
Artemis Technologies (Bronze)
CMP Global (Bronze)
