Port council endorses rate hikes

The Steamship Authority’s Port Council endorsed a $132 million 2023 operating budget and rate increases Tuesday morning. The six council members in attendance represented Barnstable, Falmouth, Fairhaven, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, and Tisbury, and voted unanimously on the budget and the rates. However, no vote came from New Bedford, as that seat remains unfilled. The Port Council is solely an advisory board. The budget and rate increases won’t become official unless passed by the board, which meets on Oct. 18. 

SSA treasurer Mark Rozum told the council that increases in the cost of fuel and general inflation necessitated the rate hikes. Rozem presented slides that showed a $5.6 million jump in the cost of fuel, a 69 percent increase. In the 2022 budget, fuel was estimated at $2.37 per gallon. The 2023 budget put it at $3.93 a gallon. In the $132 million budget, the cost to operate SSA vessels went up nearly $7 million, by far the biggest line item budget increase. The smaller end was the operation of the terminals, which increased by about $900,000.

On the Vineyard route, the rate hikes approved by the Port Council are as follows:

• 50 cents for a single passenger ticket
• $4 for a 10-ride booklet
• $9 for a 46-ride booklet

These increases are expected to generate $815,000 in additional revenue.

• $1 for excursion rates one-way

This increase is expected to generate $185,000 in additional revenue. 

• $3 to $5 one-way for standard fare vehicles under 20 feet, depending on the time of year.
• $10 for peak season Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays

These increases are expected to generate about $1.9 million in additional revenue.

• 8 percent for vehicles 20 feet and over 

This is expected to generate just over $1 million in additional revenue.

• $50 for permit and $1 for daily parking

This is expected to generate $350,000 in additional revenue.

Tisbury’s representative, John Cahill, chair of the council, asked what concerns arose out of the two public sessions held on the rate hikes. 

Among the questions Rozum said was what the advertising budget amounted to, and whether it was “necessary,” and how much has it gone up. Rozum said he believed it rose about $35,000 on a figure of $1.38 million. He said the advertising budget is “targeted at walk-on foot traffic, not for vehicles.”

Rozum said since the pandemic struck, the SSA hasn’t regained its foot traffic numbers. Foot traffic, he said, made a “significant difference” in the ferry line’s bottom line. 

​​The council was apprised of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposed speed restrictions to protect right whales, a proposal that would expand slow travel areas and impact SSA operations. As The Times previously reported, SSA management told the board in September it was in the process of drafting a letter to NOAA to seek rule exemptions to Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, as other bodies of water, like Long Island Sound, currently have. 

Davis told the council the restrictions would be particularly impactful to high-speed ferry traffic to Nantucket. Davis said over the course of hundreds of thousands of trips, SSA ferry crews haven’t seen right whales, only humpback and minke whales. Davis also said the SSA appreciates the fragile status of the right whale. Nantucket Port Council member Nathaniel Lowell said fast ferries to Nantucket are “not first class” but “all class, it’s everybody.” Not only would such restrictions be impactful in general, but they would harm routine medical conveyance, he said. 

“It’s unconscionable that this could even be discussed,” Lowell said.

Falmouth Port Council member Rob Munier said there are new devices available that would allow a bridge crew to scan the water through thermal imaging. He suggested that might be an option for the ferry line. 

Davis said on the Vineyard route, if the regulations took effect, the SSA would have to adjust its schedules. Davis estimated that would likely mean six round trips instead of seven to the Vineyard during the restriction period. An alternative could be to muster an additional crew to make up the difference, but Davis was pessimistic about the likelihood of that, as it was “challenging” to hire enough mariners.