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Due to its unique geography, being made of two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes, Michigan has depended on many ferries for connections to transport people, vehicles and trade. The most famous modern ferries are those which carry people and goods across the Straits of Mackinac to the car-free Mackinac Island but before the Mackinac Bridge was built, large numbers of ferries carried people and cars between the two peninsulas. Other ferries continue to provide transportation to small islands and across the Detroit River to Canada. Ferries once provided transport to island parks for city dwellers. The state's only national park, Isle Royale cannot be reached by road and is normally accessed by ferry. The largest ferries in Michigan are the car ferries which cross Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. One of these, the SS ''Badger'' is one of the last remaining coal steamers on the Great Lakes and serves as a section of US Highway 10 (US 10). The ''Badger'' is also the largest ferry in Michigan, capable of carrying 600 passengers and 180 autos. In the early days of lake transport, it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between ferries, package freighters carrying passengers, and passenger liners on regular routes. The lakes and rivers often provided an easier route of travel than primitive or non-existent roads. Rail ferries would carry passenger trains and their occupants and later sometimes carried automobiles as well. The first autos crossed the Straits of Mackinac in 1917 on the SS ''Chief Wawatam''. In 1923, the state of Michigan began an auto ferry service that was the first such system to be state-owned.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Michigan State Ferry Album )〕 It continued until the day the Mackinac Bridge opened. The law required the ferry service to cease so that the bridge would not have competition and could pay off its construction bonds faster. The passenger ferries and many of the rail ferries across the Detroit and St. Clair rivers had ended after the bridges and tunnels were built. The ferries pioneered concepts in ship design and icebreaking techniques. Bow propellers and steel spoon-shaped bows made the rail ferries the best icebreakers on the lakes for many years until the dedicated U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers were assigned during World War II. In contrast, the ferries later had some of the most outdated equipment on the Lakes. The ''Badger'', still in service in 2012, is the last coal-fired Great Lakes passenger steamer. The ''Chief Wawatam'' was the last hand-fed coal steamer and the ''Landsdowne'' was the last paddlewheeler when it was converted to a barge in 1970. The Detroit-Windsor ferries were popular with small-scale bootleggers during Prohibition, especially as border guards were reluctant to search young Canadian women who worked in Detroit offices. ==Car ferries== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ferries in Michigan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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