As the Steamship Authority prepares to sail into the New Year, it is re-examining the issues surrounding a potential Vineyard–New Bedford freight service link intended to siphon off heavy truck traffic from Woods Hole Road in Falmouth. Sticking points now and in the past include costs of service and whether shippers would see it as a viable transportation link and alternative to Cape traffic.
The financial viability of New Bedford service, whether provided by a private operator or the SSA, and the effect of that service on boatline operations, form the core of “Outline of Issues – New Bedford Freight Service,” SSA staff prepared for a meeting of the boatline members on Dec. 15.
As a starting point at the last meeting of the year, members said the Authority ought to take a leadership role in long-stalled efforts by Oak Bluffs and Tisbury, which form one refuse district, to barge solid waste from the Island to New Bedford.
The Island’s solid waste is now shipped off-Island truckload by truckload, accounting for more than 15 percent of the Steamship Authority’s freight traffic, or one in seven freight trips.
Falmouth SSA board member Elizabeth Gladfelter is the latest Falmouth official to urge the boatline to consider a New Bedford link as a means to decrease truck traffic that rumbles through their town, and is only expected to increase. Vineyard member Marc Hanover supports the initiative.
New Bedford SSA member Moira Tierney is on record saying her city would welcome anything the Island wanted to ship, trash included.
At the boatline meeting on Dec. 15, the authority members “directed the staff to continue to investigate all of the options vigorously,” according to a management synopsis.
Questions aplenty
At the December meeting, SSA general manager Wayne Lamson reviewed the issues raised by potential freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard.
These include policy questions; for example, whether the freight service should be year-round or seasonal, whether it should be self-supporting, whether certain shippers or commodities will be required to use the service, what types of vehicles will be allowed to use the service, and what sources of funding might be available for the service.
A major question is whether the SSA might provide the freight service, or license a private operator to do it. That raises a host of issues; for example, whether the SSA should decrease the number of truck spaces that are available on trips between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard, and whether the SSA should use its spare vessel to provide the service.
If the SSA were to have a private operator provide the service, the SSA would need to decide if it should allow the private operator to use the SSA’s facilities, whether the SSA should be responsible for the private operator’s reservations and tickets, whether the SSA should determine what rates and fares the private operator can charge, and who should assume the financial risk of the service, the SSA or the private operator, according to a management synopsis of the meeting.
Retracing history
The draft management report, titled “Outline of issues regarding potential freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard,” begins with a brief recap.
In 2001, a push by New Bedford for a piece of ferry service that found support in Falmouth led to the SSA signing a contract with Hvide Marine Inc., a private carrier, to provide subsidized freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard two times a day, five days a week. According to the SSA’s analysis, in 2000 the SSA lost almost $680 per truck carried on the route; and in 2001, it lost around $410 per truck. The SSA report notes, “Critics of the pilot program asserted that it was ‘designed to fail.’”
The entire episode provided a political flashpoint that ignited a legislative battle that ended with the expansion of the SSA membership to include a voting New Bedford member.
In April 2012, following another examination of New Bedford service, the staff concluded that it would not be financially feasible for the SSA itself to provide freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard.
The total estimated incremental operating cost of the alternative New Bedford schedules from late June through early September ranged from $412,000 to $958,000 per year, according to the report.
As a result, the members tabled discussion about whether the SSA should develop a request for proposals (RFP) from private-vessel operators to provide freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard, to see if such a freight service might be financially feasible or whether the SSA should investigate other alternatives, such as barging.
Questions aplenty
The 13-page outline elaborates on numerous issues and questions. For example, the R.M. Packer Co., with waterfront facilities in Tisbury, is the sole private industrial marine operator on the Island. The SSA study notes Packer has “existing facilities in both New Bedford and Vineyard Haven, as well as barges and tugs, that are capable of transporting containerized freight and vehicles between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard on a ‘roll-on/roll-off’” basis, and poses the proposal: Determine whether Packer is willing to provide a freight transportation service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard and, if so, on what basis.
At one time, the former SSA general manager envisioned a regional SSA service model built around high-speed service that included fast freight boats of the type used in the offshore oil industry.
The outline said, “The SSA should determine what types of vessels (e.g., traditional freight boat, high- or mid-speed catamaran, tug and barge) are suitable for providing freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard. The SSA should then evaluate all of the suitable vessels to determine what advantages there would be if the service were provided with one of them rather than another.”
On the issue of cost, the outline notes, “The SSA needs to decide as a policy matter whether the freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard should be financially self-sustaining and, if the SSA decides that it need not be self-sustaining, to what extent it should be subsidized.”
In addition, “If the SSA determines that the freight service will not be financially self-sustaining, the SSA should investigate what sources of funding might be available to cover any projected deficiency. Potential sources include not only federal and state funds, but also local funds (e.g., the Town of Falmouth’s passenger embarkation fees).”
And then there are the Vineyard Haven Harbor DCPC regulations. “In 2000, the Town of Tisbury adopted the Vineyard Haven Harbor District of Critical Planning Concern (DCPC) Regulations. The SSA is not subject to those regulations, but the staff has not yet researched whether a private operator licensed by the SSA to provide ferry service to and from Vineyard Haven Harbor similarly would not be subject to them. If the regulations were to apply to a licensed private operator, it should be noted that they prohibit ‘maneuvering a ferry of more than 150 feet in length in an arc of 180 degrees or more within the District.’”
