The Steamship Authority is proposing its largest fare increase to date, according to Steamship officials, to pay off a rising budget which is being fueled largely by payroll increases.
The ferry line is looking at a potential 2025 budget of $152.8 million, an 11 percent increase from the 2024 budget of $137.6 million, or an increase of $15.2 million.
To pay off the increase, the Steamship is proposing rate hikes across the board, from passenger tickets to vehicle reservations. Vehicle reservations could jump $11 in some instances, and another dollar for passengers.
“This is the largest rate increase, I’ll come out and say it,” Steamship Authority treasurer and comptroller Mark Rozum told the Port Council on Tuesday.
No vote was taken by the Port Council. The budget will also be presented to the Steamship Authority board on Oct. 15. Public budget workshops will also be held on the Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod during the week of Oct. 23.
Rozum and Assistant Treasurer Courtney Oliveira led a presentation on Tuesday, showing spikes in various parts of the ferry line’s operations for 2025. On the lower end is a $403,231 estimated increase for staff training — the incoming freight vessels, cybersecurity, and able-bodied seamen — while the largest increase was a whopping $7.68 million payroll increase estimation, based on wage increases, contract agreements, and additional hires.
There are also various other large expenses anticipated for 2025 from projects, like the dry-docking of five vessels that will cost more than $5 million, and investing in the ferry line’s information technology infrastructure.
With an expected revenue of $139.1 million for 2025, the Steamship Authority’s looking at a net operating loss of $5.49 million. The ferry line’s target net operating revenue is $10.86 million.
To recoup their losses, the ferry line is also looking at increasing its fares. Current estimates are that $10.2 million from the Martha’s Vineyard route and $6.152 million from the Nantucket route will be generated in additional revenue if a rate adjustment is made.
Here are the proposed 2025 rate increases for the Vineyard route:
- Vehicles under 20 feet in length
- Between $6 and $11 increase for tickets from Jan. 1 to May 14, and Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.
- $21 increase for tickets from Sept. 15 to Oct. 31.
- $11 increase Mondays through Thursdays and $25 increase Fridays through Sundays for tickets from May 15 to Sept. 14.
- $100 increase to the 10-ride automobile coupon book.
- $3.50 increase during the “off-season” and a $5 increase during the “on-season” for the excursion fare.
- 10 percent increase to freight fare.
- Passenger tickets
- $1 increase for an one-way adult ticket.
- 50¢ increase for a one-way child or senior ticket.
- $8 increase for a 10-ride adult book.
- $4 increase for a 10-ride child/senior book.
- $21 increase for a 46-ride book.
- Daily parking fees
- Between $4 and $5 increase per day during the off-season.
- Summer fees will be increased so daily parking passes will be $23 every day.
- Annual parking permits will see $200 and $100 increases for the Woods Hole and Palmer Avenue lots, respectively.
You’ve got to be kidding! Oh wait this is the SSA who believes they can consistently treat islanders with substandard service without consequences.
Time for a boycott!
Boycott the SSA?
How will you come and go?
You have a problem paying a living wage? Check your privilege
The only positive takeaway from ticket increases is it may keep the summer traffic down. The Island can’t handle the number of vehicles that visits during the summer months. I do feel bad for the locals who have to take on this burden of paying these ridiculous prices to survive.
Supply and demand. Interesting concept.
Let’s build a bridge instead.
Aren’t the number of vehicles coming to the Island at somewhat a constant (if all boats are at 100% capacity) considering the number of boat trips don’t increase and the only way to the Island is via boat?
Exactly -the affluent summer visitors who show up with one, 2 or even more vehicles to bring over (for their ultimate convenience, never mind the effect on our congested roads) could cover the whole of these increases without batting an eye. In the grand scheme of things, ferry fares account for a very small percentage of what a family who can afford to visit with their private vehicle(s) pay for the whole experience of coming here in-season.
The island can easily handle ten times the cars it does now.
A similar sized island handles 100 times as many.
Albert, you made a great point. Whidbey Island has both a ferry and a bridge.
Hilton Head Island is smaller than MV and has a bridge. Somehow, both of those islands have managed to survive.
What island are you talking about, Manhattan?
10X the cars we have now? Sarc, right? No problem, as long as you don’t mind every main road across down island being gridlocked much of the day, every day in late Spring, Summer, and Fall…not to mention having to park and walk oh, 2-3 miles on any given Saturday to get into Stop & Shop or State Road business area or Circuit Ave, etc.
With a constant increase in corporate annual profits, a fair increase is absurd. Millions of dollars added every year and they make islanders constantly pay more just to function. A substandard service with consistent increases in profit. Ridiculous
Disband the SSA?
Put all ferry service in private hands.
Where the only motive is profit?
Of course they are! Gotta pay for all of the disastrous decisions made by Bob Davis. Think about how much worse it will be by the time he’s finished out next year! This is ridiculous.
Is Davis worse the his predecessors?
When was the last time the SSA had a good manager?
Never?
Dissolve the SSA?
Much much worse and it’s not close! We never had issues like this and I have lived here for 35 years.
I agree w Susan – you’ve got to be kidding!! Who in the world would be asking for an increase when providing such an unreliable service? Oil prices are down – where are the savings from that line item? At least some of the staff positions must have been in the budget for this year. It doesn’t matter how many boats are added or what the new reservation office looks like, if boats keeping breaking down & service is cancelled. All the increased freight costs are going to be passed on to us. Something is radically wrong at the SSA.
Agree with the general frustrations but to be fair, if a ticket increase allows for the hiring, training, improved compensation for and retention of enough staff so that boats don’t get cancelled when there’s a call/sick-out, we all stand to benefit.
They have plenty of money for wages if they would stop wasting it on boondoggle after boondoggle. A terminal we don’t need, a non functioning website. All the compensation that goes to the administrators and everything else that ends up costing 2-3 times their estimated costs. It’s a joke!
Are you freaking kidding me? How did they have the gall to increase rates until they improve service? There has to be some sort of independent study to determine where the deficiency are in the steamship authorities management. This is outrageous!
How does SSA service compare to private?
Independent studies determinations are based on funding.
If they have to raise these prices, ALL of the passenger vehicle increases can easily be borne by the affluent non-residents who, as it is, happily pay high real estate costs for second homes, outlandish rents and premium+ meal prices to be here (and be Seen here) in-season. The amounts are chump change to the summer tourists who only might traverse the sound RT once or a handful of times in a year. Spare the residents on any further excursion fare increases, these are the actual residents who keep the place operating and as livable as it still is.
Yes GK Allan, identify people by net worth and charge them more for ferry tickets. Charge them more for gas and restaurant meals and every other expenditure. In fact, in the interests of equity, tear down some of their homes and remove their vehicles so that that the middle class is not longer envious and suffers the pangs of jealousy.
Time to build a bridge. THANK GOD we sold we build a house back in 1987 when the good times were great.
A 7 mile bridge JUST to access the vineyard?? That’s 4x the length of the Tobin bridge, which is used by 10’s of thousands of drivers every day
Everyone’s boats break down.
How many trips has the Island Queen canceled?
Who should pay the increased freight costs?
Should something as radically wrong as the the SSA be dissolved?
Will you you lead the way?
How much is it costing to build the new terminal building in woods hole
Right on!👍👍👍👍. Agreed. The ticket office there in WoodsHole is perfectly fine.
You mean replacing that inadequate, ugly eyesore in Woods Hole
If rate increases would provide better pay and benefits for employees, I’m ok with it. If they go to corporate profits, then I’m not. I remember when being an SSA employee was a good, year round job that could enable you to buy a house, feed your family, and be happy to go to your job every day…even if that day was Thanksgiving, or Christmas, it’s been a while since that was true, and consequently , employee turnover is higher, service is worse, and breakdowns are more frequent. Maybe the SSA missed the boat on this.
The SSA has better pay than private.
Employee turnover is higher everywhere.
Well said, pay the employees with benefits first, a new terminal in Woods Hole should be put on a permenent hold until service is running at 98% reliability.
Cancel the unneeded fancy ugly ticket office in WH.
The locals don’t want it.
No one wants it.
No one likes it.
It is not needed.
That would save quite a few millions right there.
Keep the special islanders’ rate through the summer.
Increase the summer rate for tourists and especially their vehicles.
Charge vehicles by the foot.
With an insurance surcharge for EV cars and trucks.
Katherine, EVs are not as dangerous as gasoline cars. The insurance companies already know this because they deal with facts, not lies from the oil industry.
Indeed – the ‘temporary’ ticket office they use now is simple, low impact, non-controversial and yet very utilitarian. (Great bathrooms too), and a nice waiting patio outside. PERFECTLY adequate for this point in time and a while to come.
The Village of Woods Hoe wants that ugly eyesore gone.
A boycott is a great idea. Simply swim to the Cape and use your off-island limo to drive to your appointments. That’ll show the SSA what islanders think of them. Then there’s the suggestion of building a bridge. That’s the way to go if you hate the island as much as the Authority you gave your authority to hold you captive. When you make yourself reliant on one entity, with no recourse at all, you’re a slave to accepting whatever they do next. Kinda like the land bank. Or a Housing Bank, if that’s what’s next on one’s list of “things I’ll live to regret”.
The creation of the SSA was a bad idea?
Why was it created?
To drive the private ferries out of business?
Should the SSA be dissolved?
I don’t understand liberals. You demand that corporations increase wages but somehow are aghast when the costs goods and services increase. You asked for this. You vote for this. Now pay up and live with the consequences. Liberal policies caused this problem along with unprecedented inflation.
Unprecedented inflation…
Ford 8%, Conservative
Nixon 5.7%, Conservative
Reagan 4.6%, Conservative
Clinton 2.6%, Liberal
Obama 1.4 %, Liberal
JFK 1.1%
Carl just doesn’t understand inflation.
Does anyone really want a bridge ? You don’t have to be too
insightful to understand that having tens of thousands more
vehicles to the Island every day might have some consequences.
The suggested rate hikes will generate about $16 million.
The new terminal is estimated to cost 32 million. (good luck
with meeting that goal)
We can complain all we want, and we can’t boycott the ferry
buy we can focus on this ridiculous terminal.
I love the boats. Hanging around at the dock, people watching, everyone running around like it’s the last boat of the day. It is a great way to begin a trip to either island. Want to save it? I do. First, you need to keep the boats reliable and running, and crewed. Including the three new freight boats. Stop giving away freight routes if you’re bringing online three new freight boats. Keep New Bedford on the table as a freight depot. It works for others. Stop the new terminal. For years you have been making the temporary one work. That has already proved itself. How much did we just save with just these items? There are the raises for employees. Freight alone when run well can be very profitable.
There needs to be more roundtable out of the box thinking about pending items with all sides keeping open minds towards a common goal. If raising fees, or cutting maintenance, is always the answer, then problems will never be solved.
So the biggest vehicle rate increase coincides with the DERBY????
The biggest vehicle rate increase should come when traffic is down?
I agree with K Scott, that ticket office in Woods Hole serves its purpose. We don’t need a fancy and expensive building!
More than that, isn’t it time to get our MA Reps involved on a state level??? We’re the “little guys” and we need a reliable connection to the mainland.
The SSA is a monopoly… yes, I know, monopolies are illegal…. But what would you call it? We’re all tired of being held hostage by this poorly run monopoly, so we have to look to a higher authority, don’t you think???
Administration gets a hefty raise while boats are breaking down, SSA staff is overloaded and from what i can tell, not to happy with working conditions. The staff isn’t the issue (except that one angry guy :-), its the administration i feel needs to be accountable. I would think a financial gain to anyone in the admin area would be a smack in the face to staff and Islanders. As Christine mentioned above. Im all for it if it goes to the crew. I doubt it is though.
Here’s a new one in keeping with the Steamship’s motto
of “we’re no happy until you’re not happy”.
Today I was coming back to the island from an appointment
in Falmouth on my bicycle. I had just enough time to
catch the 12:20 freight boat. When I got
there, the vehicles were already loaded,
and they were letting passengers on. there were no more than 12 people
waiting to get on when the guy abruptly said “we’re full” no more
passengers allowed on. Wait for the 1:15. Ok, I get it about passenger capacity.
But putting on 12 people and one bike was not going to be a problem.
So I of course asked why this small group of people couldn’t
get on. I expected him to say that there were not enough life jackets or
something, but I was shocked when he said if there were too many people
and they all went to one side, the boat could capsize.
ooooo—kkkayyyyy.
It’s happened before I guess…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland