Nantucket travel lags the Vineyard in first five months

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Steamship Authority traffic through the first five months of the year was up between Woods Hole and the Vineyard and flat or down for Nantucket-Hyannis travel.

The count for Vineyard passengers rose three percent over the period, autos 2.6 percent, and freight (trucks) 2.7 percent.

For Nantucket, passengers were off 1.4 percent, and freight was off 2.7 percent, compared with the same five-month period in 2009. Auto traffic between Nantucket and Hyannis saw no change from the year-ago period.

Despite the drag of the Nantucket volume declines, the Steamship Authority’s revenues for passengers and automobiles rose for the period, up 1.4 percent for passengers and 1.3 percent for cars. Freight revenue for the line as a whole fell 2.8 percent for the five months. For the month of May alone, the line’s revenue from freight fell just one percent, or just $21,000, compared with May 2009 revenue.

Through the five months of this year, passenger travel yielded $5.7 million, autos $5.6 million, and freight, despite its lagging pace, $7.4 million.