The Steamship Authority 2015 annual report, issued in April, provides a one-year snapshot of boatline passenger, vehicle, and truck activity, as well as facility and technology improvements. In a reflection of the general strength of the Nantucket and Vineyard economies, ridership increased across the board.
Overall, the SSA transported a total of 3,023,090 passengers, 465,297 automobiles, and 172,861 trucks of all sizes to and from the islands during the year. Passenger, automobile, and truck volumes through the authority’s terminals increased 4.5 percent, 1.7 percent, and 3.8 percent, respectively, in 2015 from the previous year, according to the report.
Total operating revenues in 2015 totaled $100,056,787, an increase of $6,274,188, or 6.7 percent, over 2014. Passenger revenue accounted for 32 percent of the authority’s total operating revenues.
Operating expenses totaled $88,313,623 in 2015, an increase of $2,953,944, or 3.5 percent compared with the prior year, the report said. Salaries, wages, and the cost of employee benefits accounted for 53 percent of the authority’s total operating expenses in 2015.
Under the SSA’s enabling legislation, deficits are paid by the taxpayers. The report noted: As a result, 2015 was the authority’s 53rd consecutive year without a deficit assessment on the taxpayers of the port communities, the report said.
The report also provided figures on cancellations.
Vessel crews completed a total of 22,437 trips in 2015, an increase of 330 trips, or 1.5 percent, over 2014. “The number of canceled trips in 2015 due to adverse weather or sea conditions totaled 374, and another 119 trips were canceled for mechanical reasons,” the report said.
Ridership to the Vineyard up by 4 percent
Passenger volume increased from 2014 to 2015 on the Vineyard route.
The number of passengers that traveled from Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs totaled 1,192,803 in 2015, compared with 1,146,480 in 2014, a 4 percent increase.
Going the other way, 916,459 passengers traveled from Vineyard Haven (a 3 percent increase) and 269,041 passengers traveled from Oak Bluffs (6.8 percent) to Woods Hole.
Overall for Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the total number of passengers the SSA carried in 2015 was 3,023,090, compared with 2,893,851 in 2014. Worth noting was an increase in the number of passengers traveling during the shoulder season.
In May 2014 there were 257,641 passengers on the vessels, while in May 2015 the total was 287,285, an increase of 11.5 percent. Similarly, in September 2015, a bump up to 343,735 passengers was an 11.7 percent increase over the September 2014 total of 307,825.
January and February both showed a decline in the number of passengers carried. In January 2014 there were 103,577 passengers; in January 2015 that number saw a slight decrease of less than 1 percent to 103,046. The number of ferry passengers decreased more significantly during the month of February, from 95,852 in 2014 to 86,425 in 2015, a decline of almost 10 percent.
Steamship Authority figures indicate that in 1991, the boatline carried a total of 1,708,107 passengers to and from Martha’s Vineyard, compared with 2,378,303 in 2015; that’s well over a half-million more passengers. In 2002, when George W. Bush was president, though, even more people made the trip to and from the Vineyard: 2,401,286. The number of riders to and from Martha’s Vineyard has topped 2 million every year since 1994. SSA traffic numbers
Cars and trucks came and went
The total number of automobiles traveling to and from Martha’s Vineyard was up from the previous year. The number of cars making the trip in 2015 was 399,277, or 6,413 more than the 392,864 that traveled in 2014.
The number of autos was actually higher in the years dating 1999 to 2003, reaching as many as 417,453 automobiles in 2001.
The number of automobiles carried to Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs from Woods Hole was up slightly, by 1.7 percent. The authority counted 200,405 automobiles in 2015, as opposed to 197,113 in 2014.
Going the other way, 166,279 vehicles left Vineyard Haven for Woods Hole (a 1.1 percent increase), and 32,593 (4.4 percent) left the port of Oak Bluffs.
A brief history of the number of trucks traveling to and from Martha’s Vineyard is also telling. In 1991, a total of 57,022 trucks were carried to and from Martha’s Vineyard, compared to 125,078 in 2015. Only five years ago, in 2011, there were 114,782 trucks carried. In 2014 a total of 121,380 was recorded by the authority.
The number of trucks traveling to Vineyard Haven (56,814) and Oak Bluffs (5,890) from Woods Hole was up as well: 62,704 as compared to 60,849 in 2014, a 3 percent increase.
Going in the other direction, 55,933 trucks left Vineyard Haven (a 2.5 percent increase) and 6,441 left Oak Bluffs (8.3 percent) for Woods Hole.
The Steamship Authority’s annual report includes a 10-year perspective on the number of vehicles traveling to both islands. In 2006, automobiles, pickup trucks, and vans making the trip totaled 525,817. In 2015, that number reached 559,501.
The increase was less drastic with respect to trucks, trailers, buses, and campers. In 2006, a total of 77,571 vehicles longer than 20 feet were transported, compared with 78,657 in 2015. There was a dip in 2009 when the number was 68,383. But there has been a steady increase over the past four or five years.
Revenue rises
With the increase in passengers came an increase in revenues for the Steamship Authority. Ticketed revenue from passengers transported saw a 10 percent boost; 2014 revenue was $28,869,689, rising to $31,765,772 in 2015.
Revenue from automobiles carried increased as well, from $28,556,099 in 2014 to $29,434,776, a 3.1 percent increase.
The authority’s operating income for 2015 was $11,743,164 on revenue totaling $100,056,787, with operating expenses of $88,313,623, a 6.7 percent increase over 2014. Operating income in 2014 was $8,422,920 on revenue totaling $93,782,599 and operating expenses of $85,359,679.
The report states an increase in total net position at $104,913,519, a 13.7 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
The Steamship Authority recorded an increase in total assets and liabilities. By Dec. 31, 2015, assets were $223,027,908, and liabilities were at $120,813,180; Dec. 31, 2014, saw assets recorded at $174,763,005 and liabilities totaling $82,706,709.
Parking revenue was up 8.9 percent, primarily due to an increase in cars parked at the Falmouth and Hyannis lots and increased fees for parking. Total parking revenues in 2015 were $6,939,594, up $566,199 from the previous year.
The report breaks down the Steamship Authority’s operating revenues into five categories: 32.3 percent of its revenue comes from passengers; 29.3 percent from automobiles; 25.9 percent from freight; 6.9 percent from parking, and 5.6 percent described as “other,” which includes increases in cancellation penalties and miscellaneous service charges for driver services, as well as certain rate increases that became effective Jan. 6, 2015.
Expenses
Total operating expenses for 2015 were $88,313,623, while they came in at $85,359,679 in 2014. The report says maintenance expenses increased by approximately 23 percent, attributed to drydock expense increases of almost $1.5 million, and dolphin and dock work increases of almost $640,000. There were terminal and equipment repairs and engine parts and repairs as well.
Vessel operating expenses alone did decrease by $2,328,046, or a little more than 10 percent over 2014. The Steamship Authority attributes this savings to the lower vessel fuel-oil expense.
Wages and benefits accounted for the bulk of expenses for the authority, with a 53.3 percent slice of the pie, while 2015 fuel oil costs accounted for only a 6.4 percent share of the overall expenses. In 2014 that portion was tallied at 10.2 percent of the overall expenses.
Embarkation fee cookie jar
In 2003, following a period of strained relations between the boatline and Island leaders, particularly in Tisbury, state lawmakers imposed a 50-cent-per-passenger ticket surcharge on all passenger ferry operations that carry more than 100 passengers. The money is distributed on a quarterly basis to eight SSA port towns, including Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, Falmouth, Nantucket, and Barnstable.
The law requires that embarkation fees be “solely appropriated for the purpose of mitigating the impacts of ferry service on the city or town. Monies deposited may be appropriated for services including, but not limited to, providing harbor services, public safety protection, emergency services or infrastructure improvements within and around the harbor.”
Over the years, town officials have applied the definition broadly, dipping into the fund for a variety of town projects and costs.
In Tisbury the list has included salaries for seasonal police officers to direct traffic around the SSA terminal, beautification projects around downtown Vineyard Haven, harbor dredging, a new fire truck, a police cruiser, and an ambulance.
In 2015, the SSA distributed the following amounts in SSA embarkation fees: Tisbury ($255,365); Oak Bluffs ($112,352); Nantucket ($122,752); Falmouth ($373,023); Barnstable ($91,945); Yarmouth ($30,648).
From 2004 to the end of 2015, a total of $10,966,613 in ferry embarkation fees had been collected from passengers traveling on SSA vessels, according to the report.