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Monday, February 13, 2012

By Nelson Sigelman
Published: April 23, 2009

Steamship Authority (SSA) members approved hikes in permit parking rates and granted permission for the New England Fast Ferry Company to use the Oak Bluffs terminal for a trial New York City fast ferry run over the July Fourth weekend.

Tuesday, dank and rainy, was an appropriate backdrop for the meeting and for the presentation from boatline treasurer Bob Davis of dismal boatline traffic numbers.

Mr. Davis told the members that year to date, passenger traffic is down 7.8 percent. For the month of March, SSA passenger traffic fell 11.2 percent, or 13,602 passengers, versus the previous year. He said it was the poorest March passenger traffic performance since 1995. Passenger traffic on the Vineyard route was down 11.4 percent.

Mr. Davis said that while traffic levels have been down "thus far this year, from a financial standpoint the Steamship Authority is just slightly better than budget through March as vessel fuel oil costs are significantly below our budget estimates thus far." The SSA also raised some fares in mid-2008.

Mr. Davis said the net operating loss for the year through March is expected to be $7.2 million or $400,000 less than expected.

Wayne Lamson, SSA general manager, told The Martha's Vineyard Times that he suspects the drop in winter traffic has much to do with a decrease in the number of construction workers traveling between the mainland and islands. "A lot of that has dried up," he said.

Mr. Lamson said advance reservations continue to lag, off a little more than 11 percent, compared with the volume the SSA had experienced by this time last year. He said activity is picking up slowly. That said, more than 100,000 reservations have been made for the summer on the Vineyard and Nantucket routes.

In a telephone conversation following Tuesday's meeting, Marc Hanover of Oak Bluffs, the Vineyard's appointed SSA member, said he is concerned about the drop-off in traffic. "The financial picture is really bleak," said Mr. Hanover.

Mr. Hanover added that to date, none of the major summer weekends are sold out, according to management. "It's going to be an interesting summer," Mr. Hanover added. He expects to see many last-minute reservations and a very weather-dependent season.

Mr. Hanover said the boatline continues to look for cost savings. He said the decisions to eliminate scheduled freight boat trips from the spring schedule, to cut down on excess capacity, and to put the boats on line as needed has resulted in savings.

Mr. Hanover said that strategy worked well this past weekend. Aware of heavy demand, the boatline added a freight boat on Friday and used the Island Home lift decks. "If we can react quickly, then I think we are going to be fine," he said.

A prediction of sunny, warm weather this weekend has spurred a hike in reservation requests. Yesterday, Mr. Lamson told The Martha's Vineyard Times that the boatline has added two freight boat trips to the Friday afternoon schedule. He expects that demand will be linked to weather throughout the summer months.

Year to date, auto traffic is down 7.8 percent on the Vineyard route and 6.1 percent on the Nantucket route. Automobile traffic was down 11.0 percent, or 2,904 autos, in March 2009 compared to March 2008, the poorest performance since 1994.

Truck traffic was down 10.3 percent, or 1,213 vehicles in March 2009 compared to March, 2008. Truck traffic on the Vineyard route was down 7.8 percent, or 641 trucks. Year to date, truck traffic is down 7.6 percent to Martha's Vineyard and down 17.0 percent to Nantucket.

Big Apple venture

Also Tuesday, SSA members agreed to allow its licensee New England Fast Ferry (NEFF), which now operates between New Bedford and Martha's Vineyard, to disembark passengers from New York and New Jersey at the Oak Bluffs terminal on July 3 and reboard the same passengers on July 6.

One year ago, NEEF acquired SeaStreak, a fast passenger ferry service that offers high-speed catamaran services to points in Manhattan from Highlands, N.J., with a fleet of four vessels.

NEEF president Mike Gassfeld told The Martha's Vineyard Times that the company is looking for ways to keep people traveling to the Vineyard during the slow economy. He said the new roundtrip is intended to gauge the level of interest among travelers based in New York and New Jersey.

The trip from Manhattan to Oak Bluffs is expected to take a little more than five hours. The roundtrip cost would be $200. The capacity of the fast ferry is 350, but the company plans to take no more than 100 passengers, in order to provide a sense of spaciousness. "We are going to give it a shot," said Mr. Gassfeld.

In other business, the boatline members approved a hike in parking rates. The price to park year-round in the Woods Hole lot will rise from $800 to $850, and from $575 to $600 in the Palmer Avenue lot. The seasonal rates will increase from $400 to $425.