On Tuesday, the members of the Steamship Authority (SSA) met in Oak Bluffs for their monthly business meeting. It was the last in a series of road shows over the spring and summer months, in which the members leave their home base of Woods Hole and travel to each of the port towns, affording the board and boatline officials an opportunity to hear from residents and the traveling public, for whom reliable, convenient, and affordable ferry service is essential.

An important topic of brief discussion was a proposal for fast ferry service from New Bedford to Nantucket, which will be the subject of upcoming public hearings in Hyannis, New Bedford, on Nantucket, and at 2 pm next Tuesday, in the Oak Bluffs library meeting room.

SeaStreak, which now provides fast ferry service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard, and New York City and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, has asked the SSA to allow the company to operate a fast ferry between New Bedford and Nantucket.

Initially, SeaStreak offered to make a stop in Oak Bluffs, but Hy-Line, which provides fast ferry service between Hyannis and Martha’s Vineyard, and slower-than-slow service between Oak Bluffs and Nantucket, objected and countered with its own proposal to stick a fast ferry on its inter-Island run — once again proving the value of competition to improve service.

Despite the fact that SeaStreak offered to drop the Oak Bluffs stop on its Nantucket run, Hy-Line has continued to object to the SeaStreak proposal, presumably because it fears SeaStreak will siphon off Nantucket-bound travelers who might welcome the idea of bypassing the Sagamore Bridge and Cape traffic in favor of getting off the highway in New Bedford and driving five minutes to State Pier.

Hy-Line operates efficiently. It receives high praise for its customer service and serves Island residents and visitors well. Its opposition to more competition is understandable, but must be put aside in favor of a modern transportation model designed to serve Island residents and visitors in the future, even if the SSA is traveling in that direction with the speed of a drifting raft pushed by outside forces.

Across the country and around the world, overburdened transportation planners are looking at ways they can integrate ferry boats, including fast passenger ferry boats, into regional transportation networks. Convenient fast ferry passenger service from New Bedford is one means of reducing vehicles on our roadways, but for all extents and purposes the SSA treats New Bedford service as an unwanted stepchild.

A traveler who goes to the SSA website would be hard-pressed to find any information on fast ferry service from New Bedford. The subcategory where one might reasonably assume it would be, “Travel connections,” provides no information on this alternative.

The SSA treats SeaStreak service as a competitor. It wants to protect the fare base that subsidizes its service. MInd you it has the power to operate on the route, and did consider the service, but gave up in the face of vessel manning demands by its union that made it uneconomical. Political and community leaders around the region, including the boatline members, must be more farsighted and pursue the wider goal of a regional transportation network.

In a related request, on Tuesday Elizabeth H. Gladfelter, Falmouth SSA member, asked the board to reexamine the feasibility of a freight boat link between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard. Her interest is in reducing increased truck traffic on Woods Hole Road, a continuing source of complaints from Falmouth residents who live in the adjoining community.

Tisbury and Oak Bluffs officials have endorsed the idea of a New Bedford freight link. The SSA staff will look into the options.

Also related, this summer, Vineyard residents frequently complained that summer traffic on the Island was worse than ever. It is hard to know if that was just a reflection of Islander fondness for seasonal carping, or if there was more traffic. The SSA reports an increase over last year of 3.3 percent in July (1,970 autos) and 3.0 percent in August (1,907 autos).

New Bedford service; too many cars on the Island; it all sounds so familiar.

In August 2001, then SSA general manager Armand Tiberio sponsored a public meeting to discuss his proposals for a ferry service model designed for the future and based on fast ferry service.

In his presentation, Mr. Tiberio handed out a list of 21 “facts any Martha’s Vineyard long-term service plan must face.”

Almost 15 years later, those facts have a familiar ring: The SSA transports all the Island’s trash off the Island (remember talk of a composting facility?); the SSA transports almost all the gasoline, heating oil, and propane used on the Island; freight traffic continues to increase; Island residents desire more space on the boats to come and go with their cars at subsidized (by full-fare travelers) excursion rates; the Bourne Bridge bottleneck continues to worsen.

Little has changed over the years. People and vehicles continue to arrive. Fast ferry service between New Bedford and the islands is an idea whose time has come, and is long overdue. The SSA members have a role to play, and it is not to sit on the drifting raft.

Hats off

The Island celebrated two milestones over the weekend. Longtime Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Coach Donald Herman coached his last regular-season home game Friday night. A well-deserved halftime ceremony attended by many of his former players paid tribute to his many accomplishments, which extended far beyond the football field. He has influenced generations of students, and we and they are better for it.

And on Sunday, the 70th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby concluded in a raucous awards ceremony that included a first in the tournament’s long history, a marriage proposal.

The hard-working Derby committee, in particular longtime president Ed Jerome of Edgartown and chairman John Custer of Vineyard Haven, can be proud of reaching a milestone that would be notable for any organization.