The Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority (EUPTA) is the operator of

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

and bus services in Chippewa and

Luce Luce may refer to: People * Luce (name), as a given name and a surname * Luce (singer) Places * Luče, a town in Slovenia * Luce, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * Luce Bay, a large Bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland * Luce ...

counties, in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula of ...

. The EUPTA ferry system connects Drummond, Neebish, and

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

islands to the Upper Peninsula mainland, using a fleet of four vessels. EUPTA's bus operations include a scheduled route between

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

and Kincheloe, and a

dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

service in

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (1956–2023), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Ne ...

Ferry operations

EUPTA operates three ferry routes: DeTour Village–

Drummond Island Drummond may refer to: Places Antarctica * Drummond Peak, King Edward VII Land * Drummond Glacier, Graham Land Canada * Drummond (federal electoral district), a Quebec federal riding * Drummond (provincial electoral district), Quebec ...

, Barbeau–

Neebish Island Neebish Island is located in the United States of America, U.S. state of Michigan, in the St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario), St. Marys River, which connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron at the easternmost point of Michigan's Upper Peninsula of Mi ...

, and

– Sugar Island. , the authority operates three vessels in its baseline service: the ''Sugar Islander II'', the ''Drummond Islander IV'', and the ''Neebish Islander III''. The authority also operates the ''Drummond Islander III'' as a reserve vessel. The three ferry routes serve tourism, island residents, and industry. The Drummond Island and Sugar Island routes serve the

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksSault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

and Kincheloe, and dial-a-ride service in

and its surroundings. The authority does not operate local bus services within the city of Sault Ste. Marie, which are operated by the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Community Action Agency.

History

EUPTA was founded in 1975 to operate the Drummond Island ferry service, and took over the Sugar Island and Neebish Island services five years later. The authority began operating

dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

bus services in

, Mackinac, and Chippewa counties shortly after its inception, initially as a federally-funded demonstration program. EUPTA operated the

Chippewa County International Airport Chippewa County International Airport is a public use airport in Chippewa County, Michigan, United States. It is located south of the central business district of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The airport is owned by the Chippewa County Econom ...

from 1977 to 1987, when its airport operations were assumed by the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation.

References

External links

*
Through My Eyes: Drummond Island Ferry Crew
{{Michigan public transit Bus transportation in Michigan Transportation in Chippewa County, Michigan Transportation in Luce County, Michigan Ferries of Michigan