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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
March 24 - March 30, 2005 Edition
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Yes on Hy-Line March 24, 2005 In agreeing to license year-round fast ferry service by the private Hyannis Harbor Tours Inc., known as Hy-Line, between Oak Bluffs and Hyannis, Steamship Authority members judged correctly, as the Scudder family that owns Hy-Line had done, that public convenience and necessity warrant the establishment of this service. SSA members also judged correctly that the service could best be provided by a private carrier, licensed and overseen by the authority. And the members structured the license so as to compensate the authority for passenger revenue that might be lost to the public boatline because it operates no competitive service on this route. Of course, the extent to which the SSA benefits from the Hy-Line service will depend on several factors, including the interest that develops among Islanders to use it. We suspect that interest will grow, as the Island population grows, as the convenience of a direct link between the Vineyard and the shopping and health care services available in the mid-Cape area becomes clear, and as the efficiency and comfort of fast ferry travel becomes a common experience for Islanders as it has become for so many travelers to and from Nantucket. Vineyarders year-round face high costs and limited choices for goods and services, including vital services such as health care. On the Cape, residents can go to Wal-Mart or Home Depot, if they choose. If they don't like the hospital nearby, they can go to the one across the canal. That's not convenient and it's often impossible for Vineyarders. The benefits of competition, as a moderating influence on prices and an inspiration to greater choice and quality, are not available to Islanders. But they should be, and this new service may help to intensify competition, which will almost certainly have a salutary effect on life here. Two particular persuasive comments in support of SSA licensing of the Hy-Line service came from Cynthia Mitchell and Peg Regan. Ms. Mitchell is executive director of Island Health Inc. and Ms. Regan is principal of the regional high school. “Affordable fast ferry service would greatly enhance our patients' ability to get the care they so desperately need in a timely fashion. Adequate and direct transportation to off-Island health care resources is often an insurmountable barrier for many of Island Health Care's clients, one that results in delayed treatment and higher rates of acute illness,” Ms. Mitchell wrote. And Ms. Regan commented, “As a supervisor of over one hundred people, I have observed the difficulty of teachers and their spouses attempting to get specialized services at our local hospital. Having access to chemotherapy as needed at Cape Cod Hospital would lessen the terrible burden it now takes just to get to Hyannis. Secondly, students at the high school have opportunities to take tech prep programs, dual enrollment, special education programs and associate degrees at Cape Cod Community College….” So, it was a good decision. But, is there more for the boatline to do? Yes. The SSA needs to monitor the performance of its licensee, Hy-Line, and not just to see if the fees Hy-Line has agreed to are being passed up to the public boatline. The SSA needs to know if Hy-Line is sufficiently promoting its service so that Islanders learn about it and use it. Are pricing policies consistent with public convenience and necessity? That is, does Hy-Line's service match the need it promised to serve? Is Hy-Line the good neighbor that an SSA licensee ought to be: What is being done about traffic, parking, transportation at the Hyannis and Oak Bluffs terminals? To grant a license based on public convenience and necessity requires the licensing agency to satisfy itself, perhaps with routine oversight and an annual public hearing, that the convenience and needs of Islanders are being served. |
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